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Removal of Disinfection By-products from Aqueous Solution by Using Carbon Nanotubes Adsorption

Disinfectants, such as chlorine, are widely used in water treatment plants to ensure the safety and quality of drinking water. However, these disinfectants easily react with some natural or man-made organic compounds in raw water and form disinfection by-products (DBPs). For example, halogenated acetic acid (HAAs) and trihalomethanes (THMs) are two main components of DBPs. These DBPs contained in drinking water will increase the risk of cancer in human body. Therefore, researches on halogenated acetic acid¡¦s potential of causing cancer have increased currently. Organic acids are usually the reactants which proceed in chlorination reaction into products of disinfection by-products in water treatment plant. The purpose of this study is to investigate adsorption characteristics in solution by using tests of kinetics and equilibrium adsorptions and kinetic model evaluations of selected fulvic acids (FA) extracted from raw water. Therefore, we use commercial single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) for the adsorbents, and calculate thermodynamic parameters (£GG, £GS and £GH) in order to further understand the adsorption mechanism of CNTs.
The maximum adsorbed amounts of FA onto SWCNTs was calculated by the Langmuir model at 25¢J, reaching 61.88mg / g which were much higher than that onto commercially available granular activated carbon (10.69 mg/g). The adsorption capacity of FA onto CNTs increased with decreasing outer diameter of CNTs (dp), molecular weight of FA, trmperature and pH value in all texts. In the condition of constant temperature 25¢J, we analyzed HAAFP after the test of equilibrium adsorption and that the removal efficiency of HAAFP could reach 40.76%. The best selection in kinetic models evaluation, fitting models such as Modified Freundlich equation, Pseudo-1st-order equation and Pesudo-2nd-oder equation, is Modified Freundlch equation model. In addition, intraparticle diffusion equation model was fitted well and showed adsorption process was controlled by pore diffusion. We calculated the activation energy of carbon nanotube adsorption of FA and found that film diffusion was the main factor for controlling reaction rate. According to results of thermodynamic parameters indicated that the adsorption was spontaneously and an exothermic reaction.
It is obvious that the adsorption capacity as well as the reaction rate of CNTs are superior to that of granular activated carbon in raw water. These results suggest that CNTs possess highly potential applications in environmental protection. In the future, if we can combine nanotube technology with disinfection technology and apply such technique on the end of processing unit for design of either the domestic treatment facilities or small simple water treatment in drinking water. Thus it will enhance the new treatment technology of drinking water and the safety of the public health. Another possibility will be to promote the opportunity of marketing development in drinking water.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0625110-150621
Date25 June 2010
CreatorsWu, Mei-chun
ContributorsShui-Jen, Chen, Chung Bang, Chen, Jie-Chung, Lou, Chih-Huang, Weng, Chien-Kuei, Chang
PublisherNSYSU
Source SetsNSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive
LanguageCholon
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
Sourcehttp://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0625110-150621
Rightscampus_withheld, Copyright information available at source archive

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