Modeling of the Dynamics Adsorption of Phenol from an Aqueous Solution on Activated Carbon Produced from Olive Stones

Abstract

A continuous fixed bed study was carried out by using granular activated carbon produced from olive stone for the removal of phenol from aqueous solution. The effects of initial phenol concentration (40-250 mg/l), feed flow rate (2.2-8.4 ml/min) and activated carbon bed depth (5-20 cm) on the breakthrough characteristics of the adsorption system were determined. The obtained results showed that the adsorption capacity increases with the bed depth and the initial concentration and it decreases at higher flow rate. Three models namely Clark, Thomas, and Yoon - Nelson were employed to predict the breakthrough curves and to determine the characteristic parameters of the column useful for column design. These models fitted well the adsorption data with coefficient of correlation R2>0.9 at different conditions. The activated carbon from olive stone was shown to be suitable adsorbent for adsorption of phenol using fixed bed adsorption.