Biohydrogen production with anaerobic sludge immobilized by granular activated carbon in a continuous stirred-tank

A continuous stirred-tank reactor （CSTR） process with granular activated carbon （GAC） was developed for fermentation hydrogen production from molasses-containing wastewater by mixed microbial cultures. Operation at 35℃, an initial biomass of 17.74 g·L^-1 and hydraulic retention time （HRT） of 6 h, the CSTR reactor presented a continuous hydrogen production ability of 5.9 L·d^-1 and the biogas was free of methane throughout the experiment. Dissolved fermehtation products were predominated by ethanol and acetate acid, with smaller quantities of propionic acid, butyric acid and valeric acid. It was found that GAC could make the immobilized system durable and stable in response to organic load impacting and low pH value. When the organic loading rate （OLR） ranged from 8 kgCOD/（m^3d） to 4 kgCOD/（m^3d）, stable ethanol-type fermentation was formed, and the ethanol and acetate concentrations account for 89% of the total liquid products.

Inactivation Removal for Excess Propagation of Copepod of Zooplankton in Ozone-Granular Activated Carbon Filter in Southern China

Comparative experiments on the inactivation of Copepod were investigated in southern China. The 100% of inactivation effect may be attained by 3.0 mg/L of ozone for contacting time of 25 min, whereas 0.5 mg/L of dosage resulted in only 30% of inactivation rate. Copepod may not be completely inactivated by ozone oxidation for feasible dosage limited by higher bromide in raw water. The favorable environment of granular activated carbon （GAC） filter provided Copepod with conditions for excess propagation, The disinfection experimental results show that the inactivation rate is 90% by 2.0 mg/L of chloramines for contacting time of 30 min, whereas only 70% is attained with chlorine. The GC-MS examination indicates that the total organic substance is increased to 92 specie： inciuding 13 sorts of halogenated hydrocarbon by chlorine disnfection, which is more than that of chloramines. More products of bromiinated trihalomethanes occur in treated water by chlorine, disinfection and total amount of THMs is 3 times as high as that of chloramines.

Combination of adsorption and biodegradation processes for textile effluent treatment using a granular activated carbon-biofilm configured packed column system

The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using a granular activated carbon-biofilm configured packed column system in the deeolodzation of azo dye Acid Orange 7-containing wastewater.The Acid Orange 7-degrading microbial from anaerobic sequencing batch reactor which treating the azo dye-containing wastewater for more than 200 d was immobilized on spent granular activated carbon(GAC)through attachment.The GAC-biofilm configured packed column system showed the ability to decolorize 10...

Thermodynamics and kinetics of cadmium adsorption onto oxidized granular activated carbon

Cadmium sorption behavior of granular activated carbon oxidized with nitric acid was systematically studied by sets of the equilibrium and time-based experiments under various conditions. The cadmium adsorption capacity of oxidized granular activated carbon enlarged with an increase in pH, and reduced with an increase in ionic strength. Experimental data were evaluated to find out kinetic characteristics. Adsorption processes were found to follow pseudo-second order rate equation. Adsorption isotherms correlate well with the Langmuir isotherm model and the maximum sorption capacity of cadmium evaluated is 51.02 μmol/g. Thermodynamic parameters were calculated based on Van＇t Hoff equation. Equilibrium constant Kd was evaluated from Freundlich isotherm model constants, Langmuir isotherm model constants, and isotherms, respectively. The average change of standard adsorption heat ΔH^0 was -25.29 kJ/mol. Negative ΔH^0 and ΔG^0 values indicate the adsorption process for cadmium onto the studied activated carbon is exothermic and spontaneous. The standard entropy ΔS^0 was also negative, which suggests a decrease in the freedom of the system.

Mechanisms of granular activated carbon anaerobic fluidized-bed process for treating phenols wastewater

Granular activated carbon (GAC) anaerobic fluidized bed reactor was applied to treating phenols wastewater. When influent phenol concentration was 1000 mg/L, volume loadings of phenol and COD Cr were 0 39 kg/(m 3·d) and 0 98 kg/(m 3·d), their removal rates were 99 9% and 96 4% respectively. From analyzing above results, the main mechanisms of the process are that through fluidizing GAC, its adsorption is combined with biodegradation, both activities are brought into full play, and phenol in wastewater is effectively decomposed. Meanwhile problems concerning gas liquid separation and medium plugging are well solved.

Anaerobic hydrogen production of molasses from mixed microbial communities immobilized by activated granular carbon

Molasses wastewater was evaluated as substrate for biohydrogen production by anaerobic fermentation in a novel continuous mixed attached growth reactor ( CMAGR ) with aeration pretreated sludge attached onto granular activated carbon under continuous flow condition.It was indicated that the CMAGR system was operated at the conditions of influent COD of 2000～6000mg / L , hydraulic retention time ( HRT ) of 6hand temperature of 35 ℃ , when the pH value and oxidation-reduction potential ( ORP ) ranged from 4.16and-434 mV respectively , stable ethanol-type fermentation was formed with the sum of ethanol and acetate concentration ratio of 89.3%to the total liquid products after 40days operation.The H 2 content in biogas and chemical oxygen demand ( COD ) removal were estimated to be 46.6% and 13% , respectively.It was also investigated that the effects of organic loading rates ( OLRs ) on CMAGR hydrogen production system.It was found that hydrogen production yield increased from 3.72 mmol / hL to 12.51 mmol / hL as OLRs increased from 8 kg / m 3 d to 32 kg / m 3 d.The maximum hydrogen production rate of 12.51mmol / hL at a OLR of 32kg / m 3 d and the maximum hydrogen yield by substrate consumed was 130.57 mmol / mol happened at OLR of 16 kg / m 3 d.Greater pHs appeared to be favour to butyrate production and the maximum of 0.51mol / mol was obtained at pH of 4.14.However , ethanol / acetate ratio was greater than 1.1at pH fluctuated between 3.4 - 3.6and 4.1 - 4.4which indicated that these pHs were favour to ethanol type fermentation.Therefore , the continuous mixed attached growth reactor ( CMAGR ) could be a promising attached growth system for biohydrogen fermentation.

Strengthening decomposition of oxytetracycline in DBD plasma coupling with Fe-Mn oxide-loaded granular activated carbon

A catalytic approach using a synthesized iron and manganese oxide-supported granular activated carbon(Fe-Mn GAC) under a dielectric barrier discharge(DBD) plasma was investigated to enhance the degradation of oxytetracycline(OTC) in water. The prepared Fe-Mn GAC was characterized by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, and the results showed that the bimetallic oxides had been successfully spread on the GAC surface. The experimental results showed that the DBD?+?Fe-Mn GAC exhibited better OTC removal efficiency than the sole DBD and DBD?+?virgin GAC systems. Increasing the fabricated catalyst and discharge voltage was favorable to the antibiotic elimination and energy yield in the hybrid process. The coupling process could be elucidated by the ozone decomposition after Fe-Mn GAC addition, and highly hydroxyl and superoxide radicals both play significant roles in the decontamination. The main intermediate products were identified by HPLC-MS to study the mechanism in the collaborative system.

Effects of Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Treatment on Pentachlorophenol Removal of Granular Activated Carbon

The pentachlorophenol （PCP） adsorbed granular activated carbon （GAC） was treated by dielectric barrier discharge （DBD） plasma. The effects of DBD plasma on the structure of GAC and PCP decomposition were analyzed by N2 adsorption, thermogravimetric, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） and gas chromatographymass spectrometry （GC-MS）. The experimental data of adsorption kinetics and thermodynamics of PCP on GAC were fitted with different kinetics and isotherm models, respectively. The results indicate that the types of N2 adsorption isotherm of GAC are not changed by DBD plasma, while the specific surface area and pore volume increase after DBD plasma treatment. It is found that the weight loss of the saturated GAC is the highest, on the contrary, the weight loss of DBD treated GAC is the least because of reduced PCP residue on the GAC. The XPS spectra and SEM image suggest that some PCP on the GAC is removed by DBD plasma, and the surface of GAC treated by DBD plasma presents irregular and heterogeneous morphology. The GC-MS identification of by-products shows that two main dechlorination intermediate products, tetrachlorophenol and trichlorophenol, are distinguished. The fitting results of experimental data of adsorption kinetics and thermodynamics indicate that the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second order models can be used for the prediction of the kinetics of virgin GAC and DBD treated GAC for PCP adsorption, and the Langmuir isotherm model fits better with the data of adsorption isotherm than the Freundlich isotherm in the adsorption of PCP on virgin GAC and DBD treated GAC.

Regeneration of Acid Orange 7 Exhausted Granular Activated Carbon Using Pulsed Discharge Plasmas

In this paper, a pulsed discharge plasma （PDP） system with a multi-needle-to-plate electrodes geometry was set up to investigate the regeneration of acid orange 7 （AO7） exhausted granular activated carbon （GAC）. Regeneration of GAC was studied under different conditions of peak pulse discharge voltage and water pH, as well as the modification effect of GAC by the pulse discharge process, to figure out the regeneration efficiency and the change of the GAC structure by the PDP treatment. The obtained results showed that there was an appropriate peak pulse voltage and an optimal initial pH value of the solution for GAC regeneration. Analyses of scanning electron microscope （SEM）, Boehm titration, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller （BET）, Horvath-Kawazoe （HK）, and X-ray Diffraction （XRD） showed that there were more mesopore and macropore in the regenerated GAC and the structure turned smoother with the increase of discharge voltage; the amount of acidic functional groups on the GAC surface increased while the amount of basic functional groups decreased after the regeneration process. From the result of the XRD analysis, there were no new substances produced on the GAC after PDP treatment.

Additivity of pore structural parameters of granular activated carbons derived from different coals and their blends

A series of granular activated carbons （GACs） were prepared by briquetting method from Chinese coals of different ranks and their blends, with coal pitch as the binder. Pore structural parameters including BET specific surface area （SBEr）, total pore volume （Vr） and average pore diameter （da） were measured and cal- culated as well as process parameters such as yield of char （CY） and burn-off （B）. The relationship between the pore structural parameters of the GAC from coal blend （BC-GAC） and the ones of the GACs from corresponding single coals （SC-GACs） was analyzed, in which an index, the relative error （δ）, was presented to define the bias between fitted values and experimental values of these parameters of the BC-GACs. The results show that the BC-GAC keeps qualitatively the pore structural features of the SC-GACs; as concerned as the quantitative relationship, the pore structural parameters of the BC-GAC from coal blend consisting of non-caking coals can be obtained by adding proportionally the pore structural parameters of the SC-GACs with a less than 10%. Meanwhile, for the BC-GAC from coal blend containing weak caking bituminous coal, the δ increases up to 25% and the experimental pore size distribution differs greatly from the fitted one.

High-valued Utilization of China Fir Sawdust Extracted Essential Oil:Preparation of Granular Activated Carbons for n-Butane Adsorption

[Objective] The aim was to study on the high-valued utilization of China Fir sawdust extracted essential oil.[Method] In the field of fir essential oil extraction,the processed China fir sawdust was used to prepare low-valued products.The high-valued utilization of China fir sawdust extracted essential oil(CFSEEO),namely as a precursor to prepare granular activated carbons(GACs),was attempted.The materials were characterized by ultimate analysis,SEM and XRD.[Rusult] A butane working capacity(BWC)of 14.3 g/100 ml was obtained by using the GACs with apparent density of 0.25 g/ml.It was available to introduce the technology of extracting essential oil from the China fir sawdust(CFS)in the industrial production process of activated carbons with high BWC(12.0-16.5 g/100 ml)and high surface area(2 000-2 630 m2/g)using phosphoric acid based on previous studies of the authors.[Conclusion] The resulting carbon prepared with the raw materials containing lower moisture exhibited a better property on n-butane adsorption.

Removal of Pesticides from Water Using Granular Activated Carbon and Ultrafiltration Membrane—A Pilot Plant Study

The use of powdered activated carbon for fouling control in the membrane processes is limited by some secondary problems associated with its use, like cake formation, long backwash times and blackening of pipes. Granular activated carbon (GAC) was used as an alternative of powdered activated carbon due to its large particle size which was kept from being entering into the membrane system. The secondary problems associated with the use of powdered activated carbon as foul control were not observed for granular activated carbon. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption were used to describe the adsorption of 2,4-D and paraquat on GAC. Adsorption capacity of adsorbent was high for 2,4-D as compared to paraquat. Also, the R2 value was high for Langmuir model as compared to Freundlich model. Retention percentage of 2,4-D by membrane was high and thus the decline in permeate flux was high as compared to paraquat in ultrafiltration (UF) membrane process. 100% retention of 2,4-D was achieved in GAC/UF hybrid system. Improved permeate fluxes were observed for both contaminants in the hybrid system.

Degradation of phenol using a combination of granular activated carbon adsorption and bipolar pulse dielectric barrier discharge plasma regeneration

A combined method of granular activated carbon（GAC） adsorption and bipolar pulse dielectric barrier discharge（DBD） plasma regeneration was employed to degrade phenol in water.After being saturated with phenol,the GAC was filled into the DBD reactor driven by bipolar pulse power for regeneration under various operating parameters.The results showed that different peak voltages,air flow rates,and GAC content can affect phenol decomposition and its major degradation intermediates,such as catechol,hydroquinone,and benzoquinone.The higher voltage and air support were conducive to the removal of phenol,and the proper water moisture of the GAC was 20%.The amount of H2 O2 on the GAC was quantitatively determined,and its laws of production were similar to phenol elimination.Under the optimized conditions,the elimination of phenol on the GAC was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,and the total removal of organic carbons achieved 50.4%.Also,a possible degradation mechanism was proposed based on the HPLC analysis.Meanwhile,the regeneration efficiency of the GAC was improved with the discharge treatment time,which attained 88.5% after 100 min of DBD processing.

Phenol Removal from Water with Potassium Permanganate Modified Granular Activated Carbon

In order to improve adsorption capacity of granular activated carbon (GAC), potassium permanganate was used to react with GAC to change the surface properties and improve the adsorption capacity of GAC. By batch experiments, improvement of adsorption capacity of potassium permanganate modified GAC (GACM) was studied. The influence of adsorption time, temperature, ratio of phenol with GAC/GACM, initial concentration of phenol and pH on adsorption efficiency of GACM was studied. The results showed that modified by potassium permanganate, the adsorption capacity of GAC improved to a higher level. The removal efficiency of phenol increased to about 20%.

Removal of Heavy Metals （Copper, Manganese and Zinc） from Industrial Wastewater of Baiji Refinery by Granular Activated Carbon

The aim of the present work is to remove heavy metals （copper, manganese, and zinc） from industrial wastewater of Baiji refinery using GAC （granular activated carbon）. The most important factors affecting adsorption process have been studied, which are granular activated carbon thickness, H, inlet pollutant concentration, Cv, and liquid hourly space velocity, LHSV. All experiments were performed under constant temperature at 25℃ and pH = 7. The experimental apparatus was designed and constructed to enable controlling of the operating conditions. Employing five levels for each of H and LHSV and three levels for Co required 75 runs for each metal. Box-Wilson method was used to reduce the number of experiments to 15 for each metal. The results indicated that copper, manganese, and zinc can be completely removed from wastewater using activated carbon. However, breakthrough time for zinc is low. It is also shown that breakthrough time （TB） and exhaustion time （TE） are inversely proportional with pollutant concentration and LHSV （liquid hour space velocity） while it is directly proportional with the thickness of activated carbon column.

Interactions between H_(2)O_(2)and dissolved organic matter during granular activated carbon-based residual H_(2)O_(2)quenching from the upstream UV/H_(2)O_(2)process

Granular activated carbon(GAC)filtration can be employed to synchronously quench residual H_(2)O_(2)from the upstream UV/H_(2)O_(2)process and further degrade dissolved organicmatter(DOM).In this study,rapid small-scale column tests(RSSCTs)were performed to clarify the mechanisms underlying the interactions between H_(2)O_(2)and DOM during the GAC-based H_(2)O_(2)quenching process.It was observed that GAC can catalytically decompose H_(2)O_(2),with a long-lasting high efficiency(>80%for approximately 50,000 empty-bed volumes).DOM inhibited GAC-based H_(2)O_(2)quenching via a pore-blocking effect,especially at high concentrations(10 mg/L),with the adsorbed DOM molecules being oxidized by the continuously generated·OH;this further deteriorated the H_(2)O_(2)quenching efficiency.In batch experiments,H_(2)O_(2)could enhance DOM adsorption by GAC;however,in RSSCTs,it deteriorated DOM removal.This observation could be attributed to the different·OH exposure in these two systems.It was also observed that aging with H_(2)O_(2)and DOM altered the morphology,specific surface area,pore volume,and the surface functional groups of GAC,owing to the oxidation effect of H_(2)O_(2)and·OH on the GAC surface as well as the effect of DOM.Addi-tionally,the changes in the content of persistent free radicals in the GAC samples were insignificant following different aging processes.This work contributes to enhancing understanding regarding the UV/H_(2)O_(2)-GAC filtration scheme,and promoting the application in drinking water treatment.

Nitrate removal from groundwater using chemically modified coconut husk based granular activated carbon:characterization of the adsorbent,kinetics and mechanism

In this study,a highly porous chemically activated granular activated carbon(GAC)was prepared from coconut husk and tested as an adsorbent to remove nitrate from contaminated groundwater.The prepared GAC was characterized by Fouriertransform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR),thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis(TGA/DTA),scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller(BET)surface area(SBET)analysis.The effects of various process parameters such as initial nitrate concentration,contact time and adsorbent dose on nitrate removal efficiency(response)by the modified GAC were investigated using the statistically significant response surface methodology and Box-Behnken design of experiments.The experimental data were fitted to well-known adsorption isotherms and kinetic models to ascertain the mechanism of the adsorption process.Analysis of variance(ANOVA)was performed to determine the significance of the individual and the interactive effects of process variables on the response.The BET surface area(SBET)and micropore volume of the prepared GAC from coconut husk was 1120 m^(2)/g and 0.392 cm^(3)/g,respectively.The experimental results showed that physisorption was the main adsorption mechanism governing the process,while the rate of adsorption was limited at initial nitrate concentrations>10 mg/L.The Langmuir mono-layer adsorption isotherm best fitted the experimental data with a maximum adsorption capacity of 6.0±1.3 mg/g(~92.5%)with an adsorbent dose of 0.1 g/50 mL,an equilibrium time of 6 h at 28±2℃,and at pH 7.6(±0.2).Among the tested process variables,the adsorbent dose and initial nitrate concentration showed significant effects on the nitrate removal efficiency.

颗粒活性炭对亚甲基蓝的吸附与再生研究

为推进颗粒活性炭在染料废水治理中的应用,采用自制的木质素基颗粒活性炭吸附亚甲基蓝(MB),考察了MB初始质量浓度、吸附温度和溶液pH值对吸附过程的影响,并利用吸附等温线和动力学对吸附过程进行了探讨,最后探索了活性炭的再生性能。研究结果表明:颗粒活性炭更适合高浓度MB吸附,吸附速率随溶液初始质量浓度的降低而降低;平衡吸附量受吸附初始质量浓度、吸附温度的影响较大,最佳吸附温度25℃,受溶液pH值影响较小。颗粒活性炭对MB的吸附等温线遵循Langmiur模型,吸附过程符合准二级动力学模型,颗粒内扩散模型分析表明内扩散及外扩散都是吸附的限速因素。吸附后活性炭在300℃热再生30 min,颗粒活性炭的MB吸附值可达240 mg/g,恢复达初始样品的94.12%,反复吸附再生4次后,颗粒活性炭的MB吸附值仍保持在85%以上。

颗粒活性炭-纳滤处理二级出水中有机物膜污染机制研究

采用颗粒活性炭(Granular Activated Carbon,GAC)、生物活性炭(Biological Activated Carbon,BAC)两种过滤单元分别与纳滤(Nanofiltration,NF)组合对污水厂二级出水进行深度处理,分析二级出水直接NF、GAC-NF以及BAC-NF三种不同处理工艺对有机物的去除效果以及膜污染机制.研究发现,BAC-NF组合工艺对溶解性有机碳(DOC)、微生物代谢副产物类和腐殖酸类有机物的去除效果更好,去除率分别为85.2%、76.2%和82.0%;BAC-NF组合工艺的膜比通量(J/J0)最高,每个周期末的J/J0分别为0.69、0.65和0.63,膜污染总阻力最低,仅为5.97×10^(10)m^(-1);膜污染特征曲线表明二级出水直接NF为滤饼层污染,GAC-NF和BAC-NF先发生中间堵塞之后形成滤饼层污染;其中,BAC-NF以膜孔中间堵塞污染为主,膜污染程度最轻;通过扩展的德亚盖因-兰多-弗韦-奥弗比克(Extended Derjaguin-Laudau-Verwey-Overbeek,xDLVO)理论分析发现BAC-NF组合工艺污染后膜表面的疏水性最弱,膜表面Zeta电位值最大;BAC-NF组合工艺在过滤初期,水中有机物不容易到达膜表面,膜污染程度最轻.在过滤中后期,水中有机物与膜表面有机物之间很难产生粘附,形成的滤饼层最疏松.综上,BAC-NF组合工艺能有效缓解膜污染,可为再生水深度回用提供一种可靠的技术.