US EPA

2201901 

Technical Report 

Steam Regeneration of Adsorbents and Photocatalytic Destruction of Organic Compounds (PREPRINT) 

Suri, RP; Crittenden, JC; Hand, DW; Dziobak, M 

1994 

NTIS/13230076 

GRA and I 

GRA and I 

A treatment strategy is examined where organic compounds in aqueous phase are first removed by fixed-bed adsorption, followed by off-line regeneration of spent adsorbent and clean up of regeneration fluid by photocatalytic oxidation. The regeneration of adsorbents is conducted using saturated steam at 160 deg. C. This treatment strategy is examined with the following organic compounds; tetrachloroethylene (PCE), carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), p-dichlorobenzene (p-DCB), o-chlorobiphenly (o-PCB), and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK). For 6 cycles of adsorption and regeneration with each compound, the adsorption capacity of the adsorbent for PCE, p-DCB, CCl4 and MEK is completely recovered using the steam regeneration process. In the case of o-PCB, there is about 20% loss in adsorbent capacity after the first cycle, however, the adsorption capacity for cycles 2 through 6 is almost the same. The phototcatalytic oxidation process is observed to be effective for the destruction of desorbed organic compounds in the aqueous phase.