Surfactant-enhanced carbon regeneration for vapor-phase applications

IEC 101

Pipop Thamtharai1, Pramoch Rangsunvigit1, Pomthong Malakul1, and John F Scamehorn2. (1) Petroleum and Petrochemical College, Chulalongkorn University, Phya Thai Road, Soi Chula 12, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand, (2) Institute for Applied Surfactant Research, University of Oklahoma, 100 E Boyd, Norman, OK 73019
In surfactant-enhanced carbon regeneration, a concentrated surfactant solution is passed through the packed bed of spent activated carbon. The contaminant on the carbon desorbs and solubilizes into the micelles in the regenerant solution. Following this regeneration step, residual surfactant is removed from the carbon by a flush step with water, followed by drying. In this study, breakthrough curves are measured for trichloroethylene in air adsorbing on virgin and regenerated carbon. There is reduced effective adsorption capacity on regenerated carbon due to residual adsorbed surfactant which is difficult to remove. The greater the volume of flush solution used, the greater the adsorption capacity of the regenerated carbon.