Biosorption of phenol by immobilized activated sludge in a continuous packed bed:: prediction of breakthrough curves

A continuous fixed bed study was carried out by using Mowital((R))B30H resin immobilized dried activated sludge as a biosorbent for the removal of phenol from aqueous solution. The effect of flow rate and inlet phenol concentration on the sorption characteristics of sorbent was investigated at pH 1.0. Data confirmed that the total amount of sorbed phenol and equilibrium phenol uptake decreased with increasing flow rate and increased with increasing inlet phenol concentration. Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption models have been used to represent the column equilibrium data. The results showed that the equilibrium data fitted both models within the concentration range studied. Four kinetic models; Adams-Bohart, Thomas, Clark and Yoon-Nelson models were applied to experimental data to predict the breakthrough curves and to determine the characteristic parameters of the column useful for process design. All models were found suitable for describing the whole or a definite part of the dynamic behavior of the column with respect to flow rate and inlet phenol concentration. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.