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Adsorption process/kinetics Mechanisms of Adsorption Factors affecting adsorption process Adsorption Isotherms
What is adsorption?
The physical and/or chemical process in which a substance is accumulated at the interface between the phases which may be solid-liquid, liquidliquid, gas-liquid or gas-solid.
Activated carbon
Kinetics of adsorption
Diffusion into the pores and adsorption
Mechanisms of adsorption
Adsorbate has less free energy on the surface of adsorbent than in solution. Physical adsorption: dipole-dipole interaction, hydrogen bonding, Van der Waals force, Hydrophobic bonding (non-polar adsorbate) Typical for water treatment (e.g. adsorption of fatty acids on carbon)
Chemisorption: Electrostatic chemical bonding between adsorbate and adsorbent ROH(aq) + SOH = SOR + H2O (aq) R is metal ion adorbate and S is metal oxide adsorbent
Mechanisms of adsorption
Adsorption of Electrolytes: Adsorption of ionic species to surfaces by electrostatic attraction. Highly dependent on pH and ionic strength. pH governs the stability of acids and bases in polar water
Covalent or electrostatic chemical bonding Dispersion interactions (Van der Waals force) and hydrogen bonding Dipole-dipole interaction
CE6301: Theory of Water Treatment
(d) Size of Adsorbate: Size of particles , adsorption capacity (e) Temperature: Temperature, adsorption rate
CE6301: Theory of Water Treatment Dr. Tanvir Ahmed
(g) Effect of foreign ions: (e.g. Effect of CaCl2 on fulvic acid adsorption)
Other properties affecting adsorption for activated carbon: Specific surface area (GAC has an upper limit of 1500 m2/g)
Langmuir Isotherm
= 1 +
q = the number of moles of adsorbate/adsorbent mass Q = maximum number of moles adsorbed / adsorbent mass when surface sites are saturated C = equilibrium molar concentration of adsorbate in solution b = empirical constant
Langmuir Isotherm
= 1 +
1 = +
1 1 1 1 = +
CS = Saturation concentration in the liquid B = a constant related to the energy of the interaction between the sorbent and sorbate
CS = Saturation concentration in the liquid B = a constant related to the energy of the interaction between the sorbent and sorbate
Freundlich isotherm
Assumption: frequency of sites associated with a free energy of adsorption decreases exponentially with increasing free energy.
= 1/
= + 1/
Problem
An engineer performed the following adsorption experiment of benzidine on granular carbon.
Carbon dose, M (mg/L) 3.72 8.42 24.5 39.8 1.08 2.12 4.05 10.85 11.9 21.1 Initial conc. Ci (mg/L) 9.81 9.81 9.81 9.81 1.17 1.17 1.17 1.17 1.17 1.17 Final conc., Cf (mg/L) 8.63 7.52 3.55 1.41 0.98 0.84 0.66 0.17 0.11 0.03
Plot the adsorption isotherm for this experiment. Estimate the parameters of the Langmuir isotherm. Using log-log paper, replot the data and estimate the parameters of the Freundlich isotherm.
CE6301: Theory of Water Treatment Dr. Tanvir Ahmed