(397a) Adsorption of PAHs on Al-MCM-41: Batch Equilibrium and Column Breakthrough Behavior

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous contaminants and are well known for their toxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic effects. Several industrial applications use streams with PAHs as inputs or solvents, depending on the type and aromatics concentration. This has led to an upsurge of interest in developing and implementing methods for their removal from commercial products using adsorption. Extensive research has been carried out on the adsorption of organic compounds from aqueous solutions. However, there are few reports for the separation of PAHs from a hydrocarbon mixture in liquid phase. In this study, naphthalene and pyrene, in iso-octane solution, were used in batch and column experiments to assess the PAHs adsorption on Al-MCM-41. Batch experiments were performed and equilibrium isotherms were measured at different temperatures. Effective surface diffusivities were estimated using column breakthrough experiments for both PAHs in different feed concentrations.