Study of nonlinear wave propagation theory. 1. Dye adsorption by activated carbon

The adsorption of red and yellow dyes by granular activated carbon from aqueous solution was studied. The Langmuir model, Freundlich model, and Redlich-Peterson model were found to fit the adsorption isotherm data well in different dye concentration ranges. Fixed-bed column tests were performed, and the results showed that the activated carbon was very effective in removing the dyes from aqueous solutions at low feed flow rates. The nonlinear wave propagation theory was used to predict the column dynamics, namely, the breakthrough and desorption curves. Without solving the governing equation for column dynamics, the theory used the concept of concentration wave and simple calculations to predict the breakthrough and desorption curves satisfactorily.