AccScience Publishing / AJWEP / Volume 8 / Issue 2 / DOI: 10.3233/AJW-2011-8_2_09
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Modelling of Fixed Bed Column Adsorption of Cationic Surfactant on Silica Gel

Suman Koner1 Asok Adak2*
Show Less
1 Department of Civil Engineering, Jalpaiguri Government Engineering College, Jalpaiguri – 735102, India
2 Department of Civil Engineering, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, Howrah – 711103, India
AJWEP 2011, 8(2), 71–76; https://doi.org/10.3233/AJW-2011-8_2_09
Submitted: 22 August 2009 | Accepted: 10 September 2010 | Published: 1 January 2011
© 2011 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract

The adsorption of cationic surfactant (CS) on silica gel in a continuous flow type packed bed reactor was studied in detail. The column having 2.5 cm internal diameter, with different bed depth such as 30, 40, 50 and 60 cm were used. The initial CS concentration was 2000 mg/l and the flow rate through the packed bed was 10 ml/min. The data generated from column study was analysed using bed depth service time (BDST) model. Different column design parameters like depth of exchange zone, time required for exchange zone to move its own height, adsorption rate, adsorption capacity, etc. were calculated. The adsorption rate constant (K) and adsorption capacity (No) were found to be 0.00122 1/mg–h and 32,330 mg/l respectively. Effect of flow rate and initial concentration were also studied. Desorption of CS from the silica gel surface was possible using 18% HCl.

Keywords
Silica gel
cetyltrimethylammonium bromide
adsorption
column study
breakthrough curve
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
References

Agarwal, K., Agnihotri, G., Shrivas, K., Mundahara, G.L., Patel, K.S. and P. Hoffman (2004). Determination of cationic surfactants in environmental samples by flow injection analysis. Microchimia Acta, 147: 273–278.

Bohart, G.S. and E.Q. Adam (1920). Some aspects of behaviour of charcoal with respect to chlorine. Journal of American Chemical Society, 42: 523–544.

Few, A.V. and R.H. Ottewill (1956). A spectrophotometric method for the determination of cationic detergents. Journal of Colloid Science, 11: 34–38.

Garcia, M.T., Campos, E., Sanchez-Leal, J. and I. Ribosa (2000). Anaerobic degradation and toxicity of commercial cationic surfactant in anaerobic screening tests. Chemosphere, 41: 705–710.

Golub, T.P. and L.K. Koopal (2004). Adsorption of cationic surfactants on silica surface: 2. comparison of theory with experiment. Colloid Journal, 66: 44–47.

Hutchins, R.A. (1973). New simplified design of activated carbon system. American Journal of Chemical Engineering, 80: 133–138.

Ikehata, K. and M.G. El-Din (2004). Degradation of recalcitrant surfactants in wastewater by ozonation and advanced oxidation processes: A Review. Ozone: Science and Engineering, 26: 327–343.

Li, Z., Yuansheng, D. and H. Hanlie (2008). Transport of micelles of cationic surfactants through clinoptilolite zeolite. Microporous and Meseporous Material, 116: 473–477.

Merretting-bruns, U. and E. Jelen (2009). Anaerobic biodegradation of detergent surfactants. Materials, 2: 181–206.

Mikhailova, I.V. and I.I. Gerashshenko (2001). Adsorption of cationic surfactants on highly dispersed silica. Colloid Journal, 63: 437–440.

Puchta, R. (1984). Cationic surfactants in laundry detergents and laundry aftertreatment aids. Journal of American Oil Chemists’ Society, 61: 367–376.

Sabah, E., Turan, M. and M.S. Celik (2002). Adsorption mechanism of cationic surfactant onto acid- and heat-activated sepioloites. Water Research, 36: 3957–3964.

Saleh, M.M. (2006). On the removal of cationic surfactant from dilute stream by granular charcoal. Water Research, 40: 1052–1060.

Sullivan, D.E. (1983). Biodegradation of cationic surfactant in activated sludge. Water Research, 17: 1145–1151.

Upadhyay, A., Acosta, E.J., Scamerhorn, J.F. and D.A. Sabatini (2007). Adsorption of anionic-cationic surfactactant mixtures on metal oxide surfaces. J. Surfactant and Detergent, 10: 269–277.

Wee, V.T. and J.M. Kennedy (1982). Determination of trace levels of quaternary ammonium compounds in river water by liquid chromatography with conductometric detection. Analytical Chemistry, 54: 1631–1633.

Zhu, L. and J. Ma (2008). Simultaneous removal of acid dye and cationic surfactant from water by bentonite in one-step process. Chemical Engineering Journal, 139: 503–509.

Share
Back to top
Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, Electronic ISSN: 1875-8568 Print ISSN: 0972-9860, Published by AccScience Publishing