Adsorption Potential of a Modified Activated Carbon for the Removal of Nitrogen Containing Compounds from Model Fuel

The purpose of this study is to find the effect of the modified activated carbon (MAC) on the adsorption activity for nitrogen containing compounds (NCC) removal from model fuel. Modification of commercial activated carbon (AC) involved impregnation with different ratios of sulfuric acid solution. Pseudo-first and pseudo-second order kinetic models were applied to study the adsorption kinetics, while the adsorption isotherms were used for the evaluation of equilibrium data. All of the experimental data were analyzed using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy after adsorption experiment between different concentration dosage of adsorbent and model fuel. It has been found that adsorption of NCC by MAC was best fit is the Langmuir isotherm for quinoline (QUI) and Freundlich isotherm for indole (IND) with a maximum adsorption capacity of 0.13 mg/g and 0.16 mg/g respectively. Based on the experimental data, pseudo-first order exhibited the best tit for QUI with linear regression (R-2) ranges from 0.0.9777 to 0.9935 and pseudo-second order exhibited the best fit for IND with linear regression (R-2) ranges from 0.9701 to 0.9962. From the adsorption isotherm and kinetic studies result proven that commercial AC shows great potential in removing nitrogen.