Adsorption of Phenol on Granular Activated Carbon from Nutrient Medium: Equilibrium and Kinetic Study

This paper presents the adsorption of phenol on granular activated carbon (GAC) from nutrient medium suitable for microorganisms’ growth and also the subsequent biodegradation. Two parameter Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models were studied using large range of phenol concentration (50-1000 mg/L). In low range of phenol concentration (50-300 mg/L), correlation coefficient, normalized deviation "g% and separation factor were 0.9989, 2.18% and 0.38- 0.78 respectively, while for higher concentration range (400-1000 mg/L), the corresponding values were 0.9719, 1.9% and 0.45- 0.67. Freundlich isotherm gave correlation coefficient of 0.9984, 1/n. value of 0.7269 and normalized deviation of 4.55%. Comparison based on R2, adjusted R2, normalized deviation and root mean square deviation (RMSD) showed that the Redke-Prausnitz isotherm model gives better prediction compared to other models. Adsorption of phenol follows pseudo second order kinetics with correlation coefficient closer to one. Biodegradation study using immobilized cells of Nocardia hydrocarbonoxydans on GAC showed that, biodegradation begins well before GAC reaches the saturation period