• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.160-167
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• 2021

This study investigated the environmental effects of improving the general-type activated carbon adsorption tower used at the Sihwa/Banwol Industrial Complex with use of a cartridge-type activated carbon adsorption tower for the application of an activated carbon co-regenerated system. Four general-type activated carbon adsorption towers and two cartridge-type activated carbon adsorption towers were selected to analyze the properties of activated carbon and to compare the efficiency of reducing environmental pollutants. The results showed that the activated carbon used in the cartridge-type activated carbon adsorption towers was high quality activated carbon with an iodine adsorption force of more than 800 mg/g and that a good adsorption performance was maintained within the replacement cycle. From an analysis of the environmental pollutant reduction efficiency, it was confirmed that the cartridge-type activated carbon adsorption tower functioned properly as a prevention facility for handling emissions pollutants with a treatment efficiency of total hydrocarbons (THC), toluene, and methylethylketone (MEK) components of 71%, 77%, and 80%, respectively. The general activated carbon adsorption tower, which was confirmed to use low-performance activated carbon, had a very low treatment efficiency and did not function properly as a prevention facility for dealing with emission pollutants. It is believed that it is possible to reduce pollutants during operations by changing from the general-type activated carbon adsorption tower to a cartridge-type activated carbon adsorption tower.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.64-70
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• 2022

The aim of this study is to improve the purification efficiency of odor gas by increasing the contact area between an odor gas and adsorbent. To analyze the flow in the adsorption tower, the flow characteristics in the hollow activated carbon-adsorption tower are identified by applying the loss model, which is a porous flow analysis model. The flow characteristics are investigated for pressure loss, velocity distribution, turbulent kinetic energy, and residence time distribution. The results show that the hollow adsorption tower performs better than the solid adsorption tower in terms of pressure loss and performance. The inner diameter of the hollow region inside the adsorption tower is 0.64 m (Di/Do = 0.37). Furthermore, the adsorbent performance is unaffected even when adsorbent stages are installed to replace the adsorbent.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.91-96
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• 2021

This study was conducted to improve the operating conditions of an adsorption tower filled with potassium impregnated activated carbon for high hydrogen sulfide capture capacity. Heat treatment modified the surface properties of activated carbon, and ultimately determined its adsorption capacity. The activated carbon doped with potassium showed 57 times more adsorption at room temperature than that of using the raw adsorbent. It is believed that uniform pore formation and strong bonding of the potassium on the surface of carbon contributed to the chemical and physical absorption of hydrogen sulfide. The SEM analysis on the surface structure of various commercial carbons showed that the modification of surface properties through the heat treatment generated the destruction of pore structures resulted in the decrease of the absorption performance. The pressure drop across the activated carbon bed was closely related with the grain size and shape. The optimum size of irregularly shaped activated carbon granules was 2~4 mesh indicating economical feasibility.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.1195-1202
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• 2012

The purpose of this work is to study the adsorption and desorption characteristics of acetone vapor and toluene vapor from adsorption tower in the VOCs recovery device. The six kinds of activated carbon with different pore structures were used and the adsorption and desorption characteristics were compared according to pore structure, desorption temperature, and adsorption method, respectively. Adsorption capacity of acetone vapor and toluene vapor by batch method was higher than that by dynamic method. Especially, activated carbon with medium-sized or large pores had more difference in adsorption capacity according to adsorption methods as a result of gradually condensation of vapors on relatively mesopore and large pores. Activated carbons with relatively large pores and relatively small saturated adsorption capacity had excellent desorption ability.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2008

In hydrogen production for fuel cell by reforming ADG, sulfur compounds, odorant in ADG, are detrimental to reforming catalyst and fuel cell electrodes. We prepared alkali metal impregnated activated carbon to remove sulfur compounds in ADG by adsorption. The sulfur breakthrough adsorption capacity was changed depending on the oxygen concentration and relative humidity. Oxygen 0.2 vol% and RH 90% showed the highest sulfur breakthrough capacity. Adsorption characteristics of $H_2S$ on KI impregnated activated carbon were evaluated using dynamic adsorption method in a fixed bed. Based on the results, adsorption tower was designed and field-tested.

• Clean Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.127-132
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• 2001

The effects of activated-carbon (AC) packing length on the Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) performance was investigated for the hydrogen separation from the multicomponent mixture gas. Linear driving force model was used to describe mass transfer between two phase and coupled Langmuir isotherm was used for each component as a nonlinear adsorption isotherm. When two adsorbents with a different adsorption capacity were packed consecutively in one bed, it is very important to determine the packing ratio of zeolite to activated carbon affecting the purity and recovery of the product. The activated carbon packing length in adsorption tower of 120 cm was determinated by the ending point of $CO_2$ contration. The optimum length of an activated carbon layer was 65 cm for production of high-purity hydrogen.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.14 no.2 s.42
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• pp.133-139
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• 2005

An activated carbon-photo catalysis hybrid system is proposed for the treatment of VOC produced from paint booth. and its VOC removal performance is experimentally evaluated. Activated carbon tower is designed on the basis of the adsorption characteristics of toluene. Photocatalytic system is designed as the series of $TiO_2/SiO\_2$ fluidized bed reactor and $TiO_2$-coated filters. The present activated carbon-photo catalysis hybrid system shows the VOC removal efficiency within $75\~100\%$ under different VOC species and concentrations.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.285-292
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• 2022

Adsorption tower systems based on activated carbon adsorption towers have mainly been employed to reduce the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a major cause of air pollution. However, the activated carbon currently used in these systems has a short lifespan and thus requires frequent replacement. An approach to overcome this shortcoming could be to develop metal oxide photocatalysis-activated carbon composites capable of degrading VOCs by simultaneously utilizing photocatalytic activation and powerful adsorption by activated carbon. TiO₂ has primarily been used as a metal oxide photocatalyst, but it has low economic efficiency due to its high cost. In this study, ZnO particles were synthesized as a photocatalyst due to their relatively low cost. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were deposited on the ZnO surface to compensate for the photocatalytic deactivation that arises from the wide band gap of ZnO. A microfluidic process was used to synthesize ZnO particles and Ag NPs in separate reactors and the solutions were continuously supplied with a pack bed reactor loaded with activated carbon powder. This microfluidic-assisted pack bed reactor efficiently prepared a Ag-ZnO-activated carbon composite for VOC removal. Analysis confirmed that Ag-ZnO photocatalytic particles were successfully deposited on the surface of the activated carbon. Conducting a toluene gasbag test and adsorption breakpoint test demonstrated that the composite had a more efficient removal performance than pure activated carbon. The process proposed in this study efficiently produces photocatalysis-activated carbon composites and may offer the potential for scalable production of VOC removal composites.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.323-334
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• 2020

Adsorption by granule activated carbon(GAC) is recognized as an efficient method for the removal of perfluorinated compounds(PFCs) in water, while the poor regeneration and exchange cycles of granule active carbon make it difficult to sustain adsorption capacity for PFCs. In this study, the behavior of PFCs in the effluent of wastewater treatment plant (S), the raw water and the effluents of drinking water treatment plants (M1 and M2) located in Nakdong river waegwan watershed was monitored. Optimal regeneration and exchange cycles was also investigated in drinking water treatment plants and lab-scale adsorption tower for stable PFCs removal. The mean effluent concentration of PFCs was 0.044 0.04 PFHxS g/L, 0.000 0.00 PFOS g/L, 0.037 0.011 PFOA g/L, for S wastewater treatment plant, 0.023 0.073 PFHxS g/L, 0.000 0.00 PFOS g/L, 0.013 0.008 PFOA g/L for M1 drinking water treatment plant and 0.023 0.073 PFHxS g/L, 0.000 0.01 PFOS g/L, 0.011 0.009 PFOA g/L for M2 drinking water treatment plant. The adsorption breakthrough behaviors of PFCs in GAC of drinking water treatment plant and lab-scale adsorption tower indicated that reactivating carbon 3 times per year suggested to achieve and maintain good removal of PFASs. Considering the results of mass balance, the adsorption amount of PFCs was improved by using GAC with high-specific surface area (2,500㎡/g), so that the regeneration cycle might be increased from 4 months to 10 months even if powdered activated carbon(PAC) could be alternatives. This study provides useful insights into the removal of PFCs in drinking water treatment plant.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.341-348
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• 2007

The efficiency of powdered activated carbon (PAC) for removing taste and odor (T&O) in drinking water supplies is dependent on the contact time, quality of mixing, and the presence of competing compounds. All of these are strongly influenced by the stage in the treatment process at which the PAC is added. In conventional water treatment plants (WTPs), PAC is commonly added into the rapid mixing basin where chemicals such as coagulants, alkaline chemicals, and chlorine, are simultaneously applied. In order to prevent interference between PAC and other water treatment chemicals, alternative locations for addition of PAC, such as at transmission pipe in the water intake tower or into a separated PAC contactor, were investigated. Whatever the location, addition of PAC apart from other water treatment chemicals was more effective for geosmin removal than simultaneous addition. Among several combinations, the sequence 'chlorine-PAC-coagulant' produced the best result with respect to geosmin removal efficiency. Consequently, when PAC has to be applied to cope with T&O problems in conventional WTPs, it is very important to prevent interference with other water treatment chemicals, such as chlorine and coagulant. Adequate contact time should also be given for adsorption of the T&O compounds onto the PAC. To satisfy these conditions, installation of a separated PAC contactor would be the superior alternative if there is space available in the WTP. If necessary, PAC could be added at transmission pipe in the water intake tower and still provide some benefit for T&O treatment.