Adsorption of BTEX from Amine Solution by Activated Carbon

In the present study, some experiments were performed on the adsorption of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) from amine solution by granular activated carbon. Isotherm studies were conducted to evaluate the adsorption behavior of the activated carbon. The Langmuir, Freundlich and Redlich-Peterson isotherm models were used to describe the equilibrium data. A mathematical model was proposed for describing the BTEX transfer between the amine solution and solid particles. To evaluate the validity of the proposed model, a pilot – plant was constructed, in which the breakthrough curve for different component were investigated practically. The results predicted by the proposed model were compared with the experimental results and a satisfactory agreement was observed between them. The effects of the different operating parameters on the rate of adsorption were also discussed. The results of fixed bed column tests showed that the activated carbon was very effective in removing the BTEX from amine solution.

Keywords:

BTEX , Activated carbon , Adsorption , Amine solution , Mathematical model