Simultaneous Adsorption of Phenol Derivatives from Water Onto Spherical Activated Carbon

The paper examines single- and multicomponent adsorption onto granular activated carbon. The quantities adsorbed in the study were determined using HPLC with UV detection. The experimental data were analysed using the Langmuir, the Freundlich and the Sips adsorption isotherms. With a single component being adsorbed, high coefficients of determination and low mean square errors indicated that the Sips isotherm fitted the adsorption equilibrium well. Further experiments were carried out using aqueous solutions containing two or three adsorbed components in different proportions. For these solutions, the literature methods of predicting multicomponent equilibrium using single-component data did not yield positive results. Assuming that in the investigated range of concentrations no competitive adsorption occurred, the authors propose a method for calculating the equilibrium concentrations in the liquid phase using the equations obtained for individual components. The results achieved correspond very well to the experimental data.