Assessment of the breakthrough of micropollutants in full-scale granular activated carbon adsorbers by rapid small-scale column tests and a novel pilot-scale sampling approach

Merle, Tony; Knappe, Detlef R.U.; Pronk, Wouter; Vogler, Bernadette; Hollender, Juliane; Gunten, Urs von

doi:10.1039/d0ew00405g

Cited by 14 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…These modeling results facilitate implementation and offer promising results on PCs breakthroughs in a short period of time. Consequently, the time and cost of a full-scale design are significantly reduced (Merle et al, 2020).…”

Section: Fixed-bed Column Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance and dynamic modeling of a continuously operated pomace olive packed bed for olive mill wastewater treatment and phenol recovery

et al. 2021

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Section: Fixed-bed Column Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance and dynamic modeling of a continuously operated pomace olive packed bed for olive mill wastewater treatment and phenol recovery

et al. 2021

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“…Despite some limitations, RSSCTs are still a widely used method for GAC performance testing, especially for organic contaminants. Details of the RSSCT setup can be found in the previous studies. − …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fate and Transport of Cyanotoxins and Natural Organic Matter through Virgin and Reactivated Granular Activated Carbons

Chen

Hong²,

Meyer³

et al. 2021

ACS EST Water

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Cyanotoxins, including microcystins (MCs) and cylindrospermopsin (CYN), are potent hepatotoxins produced during cyanobacterial algal blooms. Understanding how readily these compounds are removed by granular activated carbon (GAC) is important for protecting aquatic ecosystem and public health. Since GAC is often reused after reactivation, the potential exists for reactivated carbon to exhibit performance deterioration after numerous reactivations. This study compared the removal of cyanotoxins with virgin and reactivated GAC using rapid small-scale column tests (RSSCTs) using three model cyanotoxins (i.e., MC-LR, MC-RR, and CYN) at two different concentrations (i.e., 10 and 40 μg/L) spiked into conventionally treated Ohio River water from a local treatment facility. Among the three tested toxin variants, MC-LR and MC-RR did not show breakthrough during 16 RSSCT run days (or 28,800 bed volume), even with reactivated GAC columns at spiked concentrations of 40 μg/L. CYN shows the weakest adsorption, as suggested by its earlier breakthrough in reactivated GAC at approximately 16 RSSCT days. These results imply that water treatment utilities should consider a finite number of reactivation cycles of GAC because GAC pores could be widened during thermal reactivation, ultimately reducing the removal efficiency of more hydrophilic cyanotoxin variants in the presence of natural organic matter.

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“…A full-scale column can be scaled down to a Rapid Small-Scale Column Test (RSSCT) by using a smaller particle size of the adsorbent (the ratio between the particle sizes is the scaling factor). Using RSSCT breakthrough profiles, it can be feasible to estimate operational costs, adsorbent use rates, and bed life. , The basis for the RSSCT is the similitude between the dimensionless numbers of the dispersed-flow pore and surface diffusion model, which includes the mass transport mechanisms of advection, dispersion, film diffusion, and intraparticle diffusion . Based on this dimensional analysis, simple scaling equations were developed relating the empty bed contact time (EBCT) and the hydraulic loading rate (HLR) to the mean particle diameters ( d p ) of adsorbents, of the large column ( L C ), (i.e., pilot or full-scale), and small column (S C ), (i.e., RSSCT).…”

Section: Column-mode Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Best Practices for Evaluating New Materials as Adsorbents for Water Treatment

Ateia

Helbling

Dichtel

2020

ACS Materials Lett.

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Water pollution is becoming a major concern, because of the increasing numbers and concentrations of persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic anthropogenic pollutants in fresh water resources. Many recent studies have considered new adsorbents to remove these emerging contaminants from water resources, including metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent-organic frameworks (COFs), porous organic polymers (POPs), porous aromatic frameworks (PAFs), porous cyclodextrin-based polymers, and many others. These materials systems incorporate elements of molecular design to target specific pollutants, and many have porosity and high surface areas that provide rapid uptake and high capacity. Although they represent timely and important advances in materials design and synthesis, the characterization of their adsorption performance is sometimes not relevant for water treatment, insufficient, or implemented in ways that prevent comparison to the state-of-the-art materials. This Perspective scrutinizes common practices in the recent literature and provides guidance for designing conclusive and effective adsorption experiments with novel adsorbents. Efforts to adhere to these best practices will allow researchers to evaluate novel adsorbents effectively and will facilitate the emergence of general design criteria for the removal of emerging contaminants from water. Proper experimental design can give crucial insights for understanding adsorption mechanisms, as well as enabling comparisons among different studies, which will better contribute to solving current and future water quality problems.

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Assessment of the breakthrough of micropollutants in full-scale granular activated carbon adsorbers by rapid small-scale column tests and a novel pilot-scale sampling approach

Abstract:
This study aimed to compare three approaches for predicting the service life of full-scale GAC adsorbers for the removal of micropollutants. The approaches included (i) rapid small-scale column tests (RSSCT),...

Cited by 14 publications

References 29 publications

Performance and dynamic modeling of a continuously operated pomace olive packed bed for olive mill wastewater treatment and phenol recovery

Performance and dynamic modeling of a continuously operated pomace olive packed bed for olive mill wastewater treatment and phenol recovery

Fate and Transport of Cyanotoxins and Natural Organic Matter through Virgin and Reactivated Granular Activated Carbons

Best Practices for Evaluating New Materials as Adsorbents for Water Treatment

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Assessment of the breakthrough of micropollutants in full-scale granular activated carbon adsorbers by rapid small-scale column tests and a novel pilot-scale sampling approach

Abstract: This study aimed to compare three approaches for predicting the service life of full-scale GAC adsorbers for the removal of micropollutants. The approaches included (i) rapid small-scale column tests (RSSCT),...

Cited by 14 publications

References 29 publications

Performance and dynamic modeling of a continuously operated pomace olive packed bed for olive mill wastewater treatment and phenol recovery

Performance and dynamic modeling of a continuously operated pomace olive packed bed for olive mill wastewater treatment and phenol recovery

Fate and Transport of Cyanotoxins and Natural Organic Matter through Virgin and Reactivated Granular Activated Carbons

Best Practices for Evaluating New Materials as Adsorbents for Water Treatment

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Abstract:
This study aimed to compare three approaches for predicting the service life of full-scale GAC adsorbers for the removal of micropollutants. The approaches included (i) rapid small-scale column tests (RSSCT),...