Dynamic sorption of ionizable organic compounds (IOCs) and xylene from water using geomaterial-modified montmorillonite.

Adsorption of phenols and xylene onto composite material, Na-montmorillonite, activated carbon, cement and water mixture, 70%, 7%, 7% and 16% (w/w/w/w), respectively, was studied at pH values of 5.15, 4.55, 5.2 and 4.9, respectively, of phenol, 2-CP, 2-NP and xylene. Equilibrium isotherms and fixed-bed column studies were undertaken to evaluate the performance of clay-active coal-coated cement (CACC) in removing phenols from aqueous solution. Investigations revealed CACC to be a very efficient media for the removal of phenols from water. The suitability of the Langmuir adsorption model to the equilibrium data was investigated for all phenols-adsorbent systems. At the maximum sorption capacity of the composite material it was found that the uptake (mg phenols/g) of phenols increased in the order 2-CP>2-NP>phenol approximately m-xylene as do their solubilities. The LUB design approach was used to determine the equivalent length of unused bed. The lower LUB values imply a better utilization of CACC composite. A model, which considered the effect of axial dispersion, was successfully used to describe the fixed-bed operation, the axial dispersion coefficient increased significantly with solubility.