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Activated carbon adsorptive removal of azo dye and peroxydisulfate regeneration: from a batch study to continuous column operation

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Abstract

The performance of activated carbon (AC) for the adsorption of Acid Orange 7 (AO7) was investigated in both batch and column studies. The optimal conditions for adsorption process in batch study were found to be a stirring speed of 500 rpm, AC dosage of 5 g/L, and initial AO7 concentration of 100 mg/L. The spent AC was then treated with peroxydisulfate (PDS), and the regenerated AC was used again to adsorb AO7. Both pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order rate models for adsorption kinetics were investigated, and the results showed that the latter model was more appropriate. The effects of regeneration time, PDS concentration, and stirring speed on AO7-spent AC regeneration were investigated in batch studies, and the optimal conditions were time 2 h, stirring speed 700 rpm, and PDS concentration 10 g/L. Under the same adsorption conditions, 89% AO7 could be decolorized by adsorption using regenerated AC. In the column studies, the effect of flow rate was investigated and the adsorption capacity was nearly the same when the flow rate rose from 7.9 to 11.4 mL/min, but it decreased significantly when the flow rate was increased to 15.2 mL/min. The performance of regenerated AC in the column was also investigated, and a slight increase in the adsorption capacity was observed in the second adsorption cycle. However, the adsorption capacity decreased to some extent in the third cycle due to the consumption of C-OH group on the AC surface during PDS regeneration.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21547006), Wuhan Applied Basic Research Project (Grant No. 2016060101010074), and Shenzhen Basic Research Plan Project (Grant No. JCYJ20150508152951667). The generous help of Professor David H. Bremner in revising this manuscript is greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China

    Jing Li, Yue Du, Bin Deng, Kangmeng Zhu & Hui Zhang

  2. Shenzhen Research Institute of Wuhan University, Shenzhen, 518057, China

    Jing Li & Hui Zhang

Authors
  1. Jing Li
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  2. Yue Du
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  3. Bin Deng
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  4. Kangmeng Zhu
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  5. Hui Zhang
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Correspondence to Hui Zhang.

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Responsible editor: Bingcai Pan

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Li, J., Du, Y., Deng, B. et al. Activated carbon adsorptive removal of azo dye and peroxydisulfate regeneration: from a batch study to continuous column operation. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 4932–4941 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-8234-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-8234-4

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