Control of vaporous naphthalene by scrubbing with surfactants

This study investigates the effects of adding anionic and nonionic surfactants to the scrubbing liquid during the absorption of naphthalene (Nap) using a wet scrubber. Both batch and continuous experiments were performed on a laboratory-scale packed tower scrubber by adding surfactants to the scrubbing liquid. An anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and two nonionic polyoxyethylene surfactants C10E4 [tetraethylene glycol mono(decyl ether)] and C14E4 [octaethylene glycol mono(tetradecyl ether)] were used. The concentrations of the surfactant solutions all exceeded the critical micelle concentration. The results of continuous, experiments indicate that the efficiencies of removal of naphthalene by C10E4 and C14E8 were 75.0 and 71.9%, respectively, at a concentration of 1.0 X 10(-2) M. The removal efficiency of naphthalene by SDS ranged from 6 to 39% at concentrations from 1.0 X 10(-2) to 1.0 X 10(-1) M under continuous scrubbing. In the batch experiments, the batch naphthalene absorption capacities were estimated to be 31.8 mug Nap/g C10E4, 12.9 mug Nap/g C14E8, and 2.4 mug Nap/g SDS. A comparison was also made among SOS, C10E4, and C14E8 in terms of cost, foaming, impact of wastewater, removal efficiency, and absorption capacity.