Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Several chemically and thermally modified activated carbons were tested in the adsorption of a lipophilic
pollutant (Sudan IV) contained in biphasic oil-water mixture mimicking petroleum refinery effluents. The effect
of different parameters on the adsorption performance has been assessed, such as the absence of water, particle
size of the carbon material and the respective chemical and thermal modifications, initial concentration of
pollutant, water/oil volume ratio, nature of the organic phase (cyclohexane, n-hexane or n-hexadecane) and the
presence of an emulsifier (sodium dodecyl sulphate). Lipophilicity of the adsorbent was found to be a key
parameter in the purification of the organic phase. Successive treatments of the parent commercial activated
carbon Norit ROX 0.8, namely with nitric acid, urea, followed by a thermal treatment at 800 °C under inert
atmosphere, developed the highest adsorption capacity (qe=200 mg·g−1) in the base material. A load of
2.5 g·L−1 of this modified carbon was able to completely remove 500 mg·L−1 of the pollutant from the organic
phase after 8 h of contact time, owing to the highest specific surface area (SBET=1055m2·g−1) and characteristic
surface chemistry with the lowest content of oxygen surface groups among the tested adsorbents.
Description
Keywords
Activated carbon Adsorption Lipophilic pollutant Oil purification
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Diaz de Tuesta, Jose L.; Silva, Adrián M.T.; Faria, Joaquim L.; Gomes, Helder T. (2018). Removal of Sudan IV from a simulated biphasic oily wastewater by using lipophilic carbon adsorbents. Chemical Engineering Journal. ISSN 1385-8947. 347, p. 963-971