PAC-Membrane Filtration Process. II: Model Application

The models developed in the first part of this study are applied to predict the removal of 4-nitrophenol by powdered activated carbon (PAC) in a bench-scale reactor. A series of continuous-flow filtration experiments were conducted with different carbon doses to verify the modeling approach when the activated carbon was added directly to the membrane reactor, either as step or pulse input, and when the carbon was dosed as a step input to a continuous-flow stirred tank reactor followed by the membrane reactor. The models predicted well the experimental data for all cases investigated. The verified model was used to investigate the effect of various operating parameters on the efficiency of the adsorption process. This analysis included the effect of filtration time, membrane reactor volume, dosing procedure, and the effect of dosing the carbon in reactors installed in series upstream of the membrane reactor.