Predicting the adsorption capacity and isotherm curvature of organic compounds onto activated carbons in natural waters

A simple approach to predict the adsorption capacity and isotherm curvature of organic compounds onto activated carbon in natural water was investigated. A combination of the well-known equivalent background compound (EBC), and the simplified competitive adsorption model (SCAM) was employed to delineate the equilibrium capacity. This SCAM-EBC approach may reduce the numerical and experimental effort to obtain the parameters required to predict the adsorption capacity for a specific adsorption system. Several sets of experimental data, including weakly adsorbing (MTBE), strongly adsorbing compounds (TCP, atrazine, and chloroform), and two taste and odor causing compounds (MIB) and geosmin) onto different activated carbons in three natural waters and a synthetic groundwater, were tested to verify the SCAM-EBC approach. Based on the approach, a parameter, called relative adsorptivity, describing the adsorption preference of the adsorbent between EBC and the target compound was employed to simulate the isotherm curvature in natural water. The relative adsorptivity of the SCAM-EBC approach is constant and can be directly obtained from the SCAM-EBC parameters in a specific adsorption system. The potential and extent of isotherm curvature can be simulated by only changing the parameter of relative adsorptivity. The marked isotherm curvature was found while the relative adsorptivity is larger than 2.0 to 4.0 for all the systems tested.