Binary adsorption of phenol and m-cresol mixtures onto a polymeric adsorbent

Adsorption processes are gaining interest as methods of purifying industrial effluents. Most industries discharge effluents containing several components. The adsorption of phenol and m-cresol mixtures from aqueous solutions onto a macroporous polymeric adsorbent, Duolite ES-861, was investigated experimentally in a fixed-bed adsorber for different flowrates, feed concentrations and bed initial conditions (clean or pre-saturated). The experimental results are presented in this work, where the major objective is placed on the modelling of these fixed bed adsorption experiments using an extended Langmuir isotherm equation for two components, based on single component equilibrium data obtained for phenol and m-cresol. The model presented in this paper takes into account axial dispersion of the liquid phase, film diffusion and intraparticle mass transfer and successfully simulates the adsorption behaviour of the phenol and m-cresol mixtures.