• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.235-248
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• 2014

The widespread occurrence of dissolved endocrine disrupting compounds(EDCs) and pharmaceutical active compounds(PhACs) in water sources is of concern due to their adverse effects. To remove these chemicals, adsorption of EDCs/PhACs on granular activated carbon(GAC) was investigated, and bisphenol A, carbamazepine, diclofenac, ibuprofen, and sulfamethoxazole were selected as commonly occurring EDCs/PhACs in the aquatic environment. Various adsorption isotherms were applied to evaluate compatability with each adsorption in the condition of single-solute. Removal difference between individual and competitive adsorption were investigated from the physicochemical properties of each adsorbate. Hydrophobicity interaction was the main adsorption mechanism in the single-solute adsorption with order of maximum adsorption capacity as bisphenol A > carbamazepine > sulfamethoxazole > diclofenac > ibuprofen, while both hydrophobicity and molecular size play significant roles in competitive adsorption. Adsorption kinetic was also controled by hydrophobicity of each adsorbate resulting in higher hydrophobicity allowed faster adsorption on available adsorption site on GAC. EDCs/PhACs adsorption on GAC was determined as an endothermic reaction resulting in better adsorption at higher temperature ($40^{\circ}C$) than lower temperature ($10^{\circ}C$).

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.121-129
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• 1997

This study was performed to delineate the removal phenol in solutions using of ozone, ozone/$H_2O_2$ and ozone/GAC. The disinfection by-product of phenol by ozonation, hydroquinone, was analyzed and it's control process was investigated. The followings are the conclusions that were derived from this study. 1. The removal efficiency of phenol by ozonation was 58.37%, 48.34%, 42.15%, and 35.41% which the initial concentration of phenol was 5 mg/l, 10 mg/l, 15 mg/l, and 20 mg/l, respectively. 2. The removal efficiency of phenol by ozonation was 42.95% at pH 4.0 and 69.39% at pH 10, respectively. The removal efficiencies were gradually increased, as pH values were increased. 3. With the ozone/$H_2O_2$ combined system, the removal efficiency of phenol was 72.87%. It showed a more complete degradation of phenol with ozone/$H_2O_2$ compared with ozone alone. 4. When ozonation was followed by filtration on GAC, phenol was completely removed. 5. Oxidation, if carried to completion, truly destroys the organic compounds, converting them to carbon dioxide. Unless reaction completely processed, disinfection by-products would be produced. To remove them, ozone/GAC treatment was used. The results showed that disinfection by-product of phenol by ozonation, hydroquinone, was completely removed. These results suggested that ozone/GAC should also be an appropriate way to remove phenol and its by-product.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1861-1867
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• 2000

Granular activated carbon(GAC) adsorption is one of the best available technology to remove synthetic organic chemicals(SOCs) from water supplies and wastewater. In order to satisfy enviromental criteria and reduce GAC treatment cost, optimal study of reverse stratified tapered adsorber(RSTA) has been conducted. The RSTA was found to provide on increase in breakthrough time when compared to a conventional cylindrical adsorber(CA). Through the RSTA optimal experiment, optimal mean bed velocity was decided 19.10cm/min and optimal angle was decided RSTA($3.0^{\circ}$). Adsorption efficiency was increased with increasing activated carbon doses and the number of activated carbon layers.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.177-186
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• 2023

Perfluorooctanoic acid(PFOA) was one of widely used per- and poly substances(PFAS) in the industrial field and its concentration in the surface and groundwater was found with relatively high concentration compared to other PFAS. Since various processes have been introduced to remove the PFOA, adsorption using GAC is well known as a useful and effective process in water and wastewater treatment. Surface modification for GAC was carried out using Cu and Fe to enhance the adsorption capacity and four different adsorbents, such as GAC-Cu, GAC-Fe, GAC-Cu(OH)₂, GAC-Fe(OH)₃ were prepared and compared with GAC. According to SEM-EDS, the increase of Cu or Fe was confirmed after surface modification and higher weight was observed for Cu and Fe hydroxide(GAC-Cu(OH)₂ and GAC-Fe(OH)₃, respectively). BET analysis showed that the surface modification reduced specific surface area and total pore volumes. The highest removal efficiency(71.4%) was obtained in GAC-Cu which is improved by 17.9% whereas the use of Fe showed lower removal efficiency compared to GAC. PFOA removal was decreased with increase of solution pH indicating electrostatic interaction governs at low pH and its effect was decreased when the point of zero charges(pzc) was negatively increased with an increase of pH. The enhanced removal of PFOA was clearly observed in solution pH 7, confirming the Cu in the surface of GAC plays a role on the PFOA adsorption. The maximum uptake was calculated as 257 and 345 ㎍/g for GAC and GAC-Cu using Langmuir isotherm. 40% and 80% of removal were accomplished within 1 h and 48 h. According to R², only the linear pseudo-second-order(pso) kinetic model showed 0.98 whereas the others obtained less than 0.870.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.9
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• pp.513-518
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• 2017

In this paper, the removal efficiency of THMs (Trihalomethanes) and DOC (Disolved organic carbon) was compared under different GAC (Granual activated carbon) filling methods. One method is "full filling method" in which column is fully filled with GAC at once and the other is "periodic cumulative method" in which column is partially filled with GAC (10, 20, 33 and 50% of total column volume) and added each ratio during 300 days. The effluent concentration of both THMs and DOC under full filling method was low during the initial period, however, steadily increased with operating time. In the contrast, with periodic cumulative method, it maintained (relatively) evenly during the operating period. Periodic cumulative method was more efficient for removing THMs than full filling method. However, when the ratio of chlorodibromomethane or bromoform among THMs was significantly higher than chloroform and bromodichloromethane, full filling method was more efficient than periodic cumulative method. Full filling method had benefit to total DOC removal and control of average DOC concentration in effluent. Overall, periodic cumulative method is more efficient to equalize the removal efficiency of THMs and DOC, so the more frequent refilling of column with small amount of GAC is more advantageous.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.184-192
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• 2003

• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.26 no.A
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• pp.199-205
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• 2006

Ozone alone and catalytic ozone processes were introduced for treatment of humic acid, which is representative refractory organic compound. The treatment efficiencies of humic acid in each process were analyzed in pH variation, DOC removal, and $UV_{254}$ decrease. Mn loaded GAC catalyst was prepared by loading potassium permanganate onto the granular activated carbon surface. BCM-GAC and BCM-Silica gel catalyst were prepared by BCM. $UV_{254}$ decrease in all processes was comparatively high with efficiency over 87%. DOC removal in ozone/GAC process was the highest with 78%, and removal rates for other processes followed the order ozone/BCM-GAC(62%) > ozone/BCM-silica gel(45%) > ozone/silica gel(43%) > ozone/Mn Loaded GAC(42%) > ozone alone(37%).

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.609-618
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• 2009

Repeated phenol spill in the Nakdong River has been a big issue in Korea since 1991. In this study, treatment of phenol in each water treatment process and total water treatment system is evaluated. Phenol was highly volatile, easily oxidized by ozone, and readily absorbed onto GAC. When there was phenol of 0.3mg/L in water, by ozonation of 1mg/L or by GAC adsorption with EBCT of 10minutes or longer, it could be treated to lower than 0.005mg/L, the national drinking water standard of phenol. Even when a sufficient contact time(70minutes) was allowed, only 35 to 40% of phenol could be removed by powdered activated carbon(PAC). Based on the test results, it can be concluded that 1.0mg/L or less concentration of phenol can be treated at the plants adopting the combination process of ozone and GAC down to the safe level. In this study, removal characteristics for phenol were evaluated with the existing pilot plant and demo plant in different advanced water treatment processes(AWTPs). In the future, studies on changes in oxidation and adsorption characteristics caused by competitive matters such as DOC and removal characteristics by other various AWTPs including ozone/filter adsorber need to be performed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.38 no.9
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• pp.521-527
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• 2016

Nanoscale zero valent iron (nZVI) has been intensively studied for the treatment of a plethora of pollutants through reductive reaction, however, the nano size should be of concern when nZVI is considered for water treatment, due to difficulties in recovery. The loss of nZVI causes not only economical loss, but also potential risk to human health and environment. Thus, the immobilization onto coarse or structured support is essential. In this study, two representative processes for nZVI immobilization on granular activated carbon (GAC) were evaluated, and optimized conditions for synthesizing Fe/GAC composite were suggested. Both total iron content and $Fe_0$ content can be significantly affected by preparation processes, therefore, it was important to avoid oxidation during preparation to achieve higher reduction capacity. Synthesis conditions such as reduction time and existence of intermediate drying step were investigated to improve $Fe_0$ content of Fe/GAC composites. The optimal condition was two hours of $NaBH_4$ reduction without intermediate drying process. The prepared Fe/GAC composite showed synergistic effect of the adsorption capability of the GAC and the degradation capability of the nZVI, which make this composite a very effective material for environmental remediation.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.1101-1109
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• 2014

In this study we followed biofilm formation and development in a granular activated carbon (GAC) filter on pilot-scale during the 12 months of operation. GAC particles and water samples were sampled from four different depths (-5, -25, -50 and -90 cm from surface of GAC bed) and attached biomass were measured with adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP) analysis and heterotrophic plate count (HPC) method. The attached biomass accumulated rapidly on the GAC particles of top layer throughout all levels in the filter during the 160 days (BV 23,000) of operation and maintained a steady-state afterward. During steady-state, biomass (ATP and HPC) concentrations of top layer in the BAC filer were $2.1{\mu}g{\cdot}ATP/g{\cdot}GAC$ and $3.3{\times}10^8cells/g{\cdot}GAC$, and 85%, 83% and 99% of the influent total biodegradable dissolved organic carbon ($BDOC_{total}$), $BDOC_{slow}$ and $BDOC_{rapid}$ were removed, respectively. During steady-state process, biomass (ATP and HPC) concentrations of middle layer (-50 cm) and bottom layer (-90 cm) in the BAC filter were increased consistently. Biofilm development (growth rate) proceed highest rate in the top layer of filter (${\mu}_{ATP}=0.73day^{-1}$; ${\mu}_{HPC}=1,74day^{-1}$) and 78%~87% slower in the bottom layer (${\mu}_{ATP}=0.14day^{-1}$; ${\mu}_{HPC}=0.34day^{-1}$). This study shows that the combination of different analytical methods allows detailed quantification of the microbiological activity in drinking water biofilter.