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INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, NIRMA UNIVERSITY, AHMEDABAD 382 481, 08-10 DECEMBER, 2011

Studies on Adsorption for Phenol Removal by


using Activated Carbon in Batch and Fluidized
Bed Adsorption
Sunil J. Kulkarni, Suhas V.Patil, Ravi W. Tapre, and Shubhangi S. Kadu

Abstract-- Phenol from the wastewater can be removed by


various
techniques
including
biodegradation,
photo
decomposition and adsorption. This paper presents removal of
phenol from synthetic effluent using batch adsorption and
fluidized bed adsorption. In batch studies, the effects of various
parameters like adsorbent dose, pH, particle size on rate of
adsorption have been studied and optimum parameters are
identified.The % decrease in phenol concentration increases with
increase in adsorbent dose. With a reduction in particle size,
initially steep increase in % removal of phenol is observed and it
becomes more significant for finer particles. In case of fluidized
bed, the effect of various parameters like concentration, fluid
flow rate and adsorbent particle size have been studied. Increase
in fluid flow rate gives better adsorption in case of activated
carbon. In the present study particle size of 0.420 mm is found
more beneficial.
Index Terms-- Batch, Adsorption, activated carbon, Effluent,
fluidized bed.
I.INTRODUCTION

The phenolic pollution is commonly observed in the chemical


and pharmaceutical industries, like petrochemical industries,
petroleum refineries, coal gasification operations, liquefaction
process, resin manufacturing industries, dye synthesis units,
pulp and paper mills and pharmaceutical industries. It is a
highly corrosive and nerve poisoning agent. When these
pollutants contaminate the groundwater, rivers and reservoirs,
which are sources for human consumption, harmful side
effects, such as sour mouth, diarrhea, excretion of dark urine
and impaired vision are seen. The toxic levels usually range
between the concentrations of 10-24 mg/L for human and the
toxicity level for fish between 9-25 mg/l. Lethal blood
concentration of phenol is around 150-mg/100 ml. As it is
highly harmful compound, there is a necessity for its removal
in order to preserve the environmental quality .Recent studies
have shown that biotic and abiotic processes can degrade
phenol.Phenol removal by resin has been tried by
Gopalkrishnamoorthy and Shanmugam [1].
Abiotic and nonbiological processes include adsorption,
photo decomposition volatilization, coupling to soil humus
and thermal degradation. In biotic processes both aerobic and
anaerobic processes have been employed for its removal.The
study of biokinetic parameters for activated sludge treatment
for phenolic water has been carried out by Pandey and Kaul

[2]. Kaushik Nath has studied the biological methods for


phenol in wastewater [3]. Babu et al. have used various new
adsorbents for phenol removal [4].Electrochemical
chlorination has also been tried by Nanjundam et al.[5]. The
work on new adsorbent from coconut husk has been carried
out by Krishna and Yenkee[6]. The activated carbon
adsorption has also been used for coke effluents by Prasad
and Singh [7]. The principle of adsorption, types of
adsorption and its the isotherms are described by Treybal
[8].A batch study for phenol adsorption using leaf litter has
been carried out by Mishra and Bhattacharya [9].
Besselievne and Schwartz have explained the treatment of
industrial waste discharge [10]. The information regarding
source, analysis and characteristics of waste is descrided by
Manivatsam [11]. Treatment of phenolic wastewater in a
multistage bubble column adsorber using activated carbon
prepared from Tamarindus indica wood was studied by
Kumar et. al (12) Discharge of phenolic waste may cause
serious problems as they impart a carbolic odor to river water
and can be toxic to fish and human beings also. EPA has set a
limit of 0.1mg/lit of phenol in waste water, while that in
drinking water is 0.002mg/lit. A total dose of 1.5gms may be
fatal. While specific tolerance limits (for effluent discharged
with inland surface water) for phenolic compounds is 5mg/lit
(max.).
1) Aim and objective
In the present work the adsorption of phenol on activated
carbon is studied. The other phenolic compounds like
chlorophenol and p-chlorophenol are expected to show the
same trends. In batch studies, parameters like pH, adsorbent
dosage, contact time; particle size are studied. The optimum
values of these parameters at which maximum phenol removal
takes place are found. In the fluidized bed experiments, an
attempt is made to experimentally investigate the phenol
removal efficiency by using different particle size of activated
carbon in a fluidized bed column. The efficiency of activated
carbon is determined by using different concentration of
phenol in waste water, different flow rater and different
particle size of activated carbon.
II.EXPERIMENTAL WORK

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CURRENT TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY, NUiCONE 2011

1) Batch Studies
The following parameters were optimized during the study :
Contact time, particle size, adsorbent dosage, pH,. For all the
above parameters 100 ml of synthetic effluent was taken into
500 mL conical flasks and adsorbent was added. The flasks
were kept in shaker and the samples were collected for
analysis..
2) Fluidized Bed Adsorption
The experimental setup of fluidized bed column is shown in
fig. 1. It consists of fluidized bed of diameter 5.3cm and total
height of 22.5cm, having a screen at the bottom to support the
activated carbon and at the top to remove the activated carbon
particles present in the effluent. The top portion of the
fluidized bed is detachable, for moving or addition of
activated carbon. The phenolic waste liquid from the phenolic
waste tank is sent to the fluidized bed reactor with the help of
the rotameter. Phenol concentration in the effluent obtained
after treatment with activated carbon at different time
intervals were

for activated carbon. This may be attributed to the fact that a


tendancy of approach to equilibrium concentration is reached
after
a
certain
time
of
contact.
1000

% Removal of Phenol

100

10

1
0.1

10

100

Time (hour)

Fig. 2: Effect of contact time on % phenol removal

B.Effect of Particle Size:Fig.3 presents the effect of particle


size of the adsorbent on % removal of phenol, considering
effects of other parameters were remains constant. The
increase in phenol removal is mainly due to the utilization of
available active sites provide the larger surface area. Further
decrease in particle size does not favor the adsorption. This
happens due to fact that for very fine particle size of
adsorbent the adsorbate was not coming in contact of all the
available surface area.

Fig. 1: Schematic diagram of experimental set up

collected from the top of the fluidized bed. Pressure drop


across the fluidized bed was measured by using U tube
manometer. Due to the non-availability of consistently
uniform waste samples, synthetic phenol wastes of different
concentrations were made. The concentration range of
Phenol in the waste sample varied from as low as 100mg/lit
to as high as 300mg/lit for different run. The parameters
optimized were initial phenol concentration, flow rate and
particle size of the adsorbent.
III.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
1) Batch Studies
A. Effect of Contact Time: The adsorption of phenols on
activated carbon was observed at various contact times using
0.420 mm size at an adsorbent dosage of 8g/l.. The initial
phenol concentration was 1000 mg/l. With the contact time
the adsorption increases until a certain time and thereafter the
rate of increase becomes negligible. This may be due to the
attainment of equilibrium between the adsorbent and phenols
and the optimum time observed for adsorption is about 4 hr

% Removal of phenol

150
130
110
90
70
50
30
10
1.19

0.840

0.59

0.42

00

Paricle size (mm)

Fig. 3: Effect of particle size on % phenol removal

C.Effect of Adsorbent Dosage: The effect of adsorbent


dosage ranging from 2 to 20 %, on % removal of phenol are
presnted in Fig4. It is observed that % removal of phenol
increases with increase in adsorbent dosages. This is because
of increase in adsorbent dosage increases surface area for
adsorption. It is found from experimental investigations that
70-75% removal of phenol concentration requires 4-8 g/l of
activated carbon .

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, NIRMA UNIVERSITY, AHMEDABAD 382 481, 08-10 DECEMBER, 2011

figure that for the initial phenol concentration of 300, it takes


minimum time i.e. 33 minutes to reach the maximum value of
c/c0 .It is also observed that the rate of change in
concentration is very high for initial period of 15 to 20
minutes and it goes on decreasing and is almost negligible
towards the end.

1000

100

% Removal Phenol

10
1.3
Co=200mg/lit
Co=250mg/lit
Co=300mg/lit

1.2

1.1

10

100

1.0
0.9

Adsorbent concentration(g/l)

0.8
C/Co

0.7

Fig. 4:Effect of adsorbent dosage on % phenol removal

0.6
0.5
0.4

D. Effect of pH: Adsorption phenomenon is analogous to ion


exchange process. The pH of the aqueous solution has
significant effect on phenol adsorption by the adsorbent; pH
of the solution also influence the actives sites and therefore,
phenol solution chemistry. Effect of variation of pH on %
removal of Phenol is presented in Fig.5. It is observed from
Fig.5 that % phenol removal increases with increase in pH
and decreases further with increase in pH.The % removal rate
of phenol is observed to be very slow up to pH value of 4.0,
increases rapidly at pH 6.5.After increase in pH, % removal
of phenol decreases sharply. It is also seen from present study
that % removal of phenol observed to be maximum at
corresponding pH value of 6.5.

0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Time (min)

Fig. 6: Variation of C/C0 with time at different initial phenol concentrations

Effect of flow rate: Fig.7. shows the variation of c/c0 with


time at different flow rates by keeping particle size and the
initial phenol concentration constant. It is observed that as
time increases c/c0 increases with increasing flow rate.At flow
rate of 4.2 lpm,maximum value of c/c0 reaches 1 within
minimum time interval of 50 minutes.Flow rate of 4.2 lpm
requires minimum time than other flow rates studied.
B.

1.4
1.3

Flow rate =3.36 LPM


Flow rate =3.60LPM
Flow rate =3.84 LPM
Flow rate =4.2 LPM

1.2

100

1.1
1.0
0.9
0.8

C/Co

% Removal of phenol

1000

10

0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2

1
1

10

100

PH

0.1
0.0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Time (min)

Fig. 5: Effect of pH on % phenol removal


Fig. 7: Variation of C/C0 with time at different flow rates

2) Fluidized Bed Studies


A. Effect of initial phenol concentration: The variation of c/c0
with time at different initial phenol initial concentration is
shown in the figure 6. It was found that c/c0 value is
minimum for first couple of readings and then it goes on
increasing at reaches maximum value of 1, and reaches the
maximum value in minimum time for the initial phenol
concentration of 300 mg/l.This happens due to fact that as the
time progresses the capacity of the bed reduces and at higher
time adsorption capacity of bed tends to negligeble and at
maximum time inlet and outlet concentrations of phenol
found to be same, i.e. c/co is found1.It is observed from same

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CURRENT TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY, NUiCONE 2011

C. Effect of particle size: The variation of c/c0 with time at


different particle size is shown in the figure 8. The
experiments were conducted at various particle size by
keeping flow rates and the initial phenol concentration
constant. It has been observed that as time increases c/c0
increases with at a given particle size.It is also observed from
figure 8 that as particle size decreases time reduces to The
particle size of 0.420 mm was found to be more suitable than
other particle size ,since it requires minimum time i.e. 46
minutes to attain maximum c/c0 value of 1 and minimum
paricle size offers more surface area for adsorption.
1.6
Particle
Particle
Particle
Particle

1.4

size
size
size
size

=
=
=
=

0.420
0.590
0.840
1.190

mm
mm
mm
mm

1.2

C/Co

1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Time (min)

Fig. 8:Variation of C/C0 with time at different particle size of adsorbents

IV.CONCLUSION
Experimental investigations show 82-90 % of phenol can be
removed using activated carbon as adsorbent from synthetic
phenol effluents. Optimal adsorption conditions yields with
0.420 size particles and pH value of 6.5 at 3 to 5 hr contact
time. The inlet concentration of phenol and flow rate has
significant effect on the adsorption operation. The particle
size of 0.420 mm was found to be more suitable than other
particle sizes.
V.REFERENCES
[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

Gopalkrishnamoorthy H.S., and T. Shanmugam, Study of the removal


of phenol from effluent of low temperature carbonization of lignite
plant by resins, Indian Journal Environmental Protection, 7(5) 1987:
352-354.
Pandey, R.A. and N. Kaul, Comparative evaluation of biokinetic
constants for laboratory and pilot scale activated sludge, Treating
phenolic wastewaters, Indian Journal Environmental Protection,
12(10) , 1992 : 721-726.
Kaushik Nath-, A Survey on Biodegradation of phenol from
wastewater, Indian Journal Environmental Protection, 22(5), 2001,
512-519.
K.Vivek Babu, P. Mary Anupama, M. Srinivas Rao and C. Ayyana,
Adsorption of Phenolic compounds on new adsorbent for effluent
treatment Indian Journal Environmental Protection, 22(5) 518-523
Nanjundam, S., V.S.Balasubramanium and P.R. Arun.. Removal of
phenol from wastewater by electro-chemical chlorination, Indian
Journal Environmental Protection, 19(1) 1999: 30-35.
Krishna, R.S. and M.K.N. Yenkee. Preparation of carbon from
pyrolysis of coconut husk and evaluation of its adsorption
characteristics, Indian Journal Environmental Protection, 17(1) ,
2001: 35-41.
Prasad,S and G. Singh., Application of activated carbon for
treatment of wastewater with special emphasis on coke oven

effluents, Indian Journal Environmental Protection, 14(9) 1994:


695-699.
[8] Treybal R.E., Mass Transfer Operations McGraw Hill 3rd Edition :
565-645.
[9] Sushmita Mishra, J. BhattacharyaPotential of Leaf Litter for Phenol
Adsorption-a Batch Study Indian Journal of Chemical Technology,
Vol-13, May 2006, pp 298-301.
[10] Edmund B.Besselievne and Max Schwartz, The Treatment of
Industrial Waste second ed, McGraw Hill Koga Kusha Ltd ,1976.
[11] N.Manivasakam,Industrial Effluent- Origin, Characteristics,Effects,
Analysis and Treatment third
ed, Publi Health Laboratory,
Coimbatore .
[12] Suneel Kumar, Kaustubha Mohanty, B. C. Meikap, Treatment of
phenolic wastewater in a multistage bubble column adsorber using
activated carbon prepared from Tamarindus indica wood, Journal
Environmental Protection Science., 4, 2010, pp. 1-7.

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