Organic pollutants removal from petroleum refinery effluents through adsorption using anthracite coal: Kinetics, Isotherms, and Thermodynamic Modeling

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Document Type : Article

Authors

1 - Laboratory of Soft Technologies, Physicochemical, Valorization of Biological Materials and Biodiversity, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences, M’hamed Bougara University, Boumerdes 35000, Algeria - Laboratory of Applied Chemistry and Materials, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences, M’hamed Bougara University, Boumerdes 35000, Algeria

2 Laboratory of Soft Technologies, Physicochemical, Valorization of Biological Materials and Biodiversity, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences, M’hamed Bougara University, Boumerdes 35000, Algeria

Abstract

The wastewater from petroleum industries mainly contains oil, organic matter and other compounds. Their physicochemical characterization showed a considerable organic pollutant load which exceeds the Algerian guidelines establishing the limitations for industrial liquid effluent emissions, expressed in particular as chemical and biological oxygen demand and hydrocarbons (COD:268.5mg/L, BOD5:183mg/L, and hydrocarbons:188mg/L). Their removal is an important challenge for remediation of large volumes of petrochemical effluents. The objective of this work is the elimination of COD and hydrocarbons from refinery effluent by the discontinuous adsorption on anthracite, a low cost and naturally abundant coal, as a potential adsorbent. Adsorption equilibrium and kinetics data were calculated and fitted to a variety of adsorption isotherms and kinetics models. The Langmuir isotherm corresponds very well to the equilibrium data of the two pollutants on anthracite with a correlation coefficient equal to 0.98. At 25°C, the anthracite-organics adsorption system reached equilibrium in 120 minutes, and the adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo-second-order pattern with a rate constant value of 0.072 and 0.084g/mg.min for COD and hydrocarbons respectively. The pollutant removal rate is 82% for COD and 94% for hydrocarbons at optimum mass of adsorbent=3g. The adsorption is spontaneous, according to thermodynamic studies, which suggest an endothermic process.

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Scientia Iranica

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 24 October 2023

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History

  • Receive Date: 20 June 2023
  • Revise Date: 15 September 2023
  • Accept Date: 24 October 2023

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