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Removal of emerging pollutants in water treatment plants: adsorption of methyl and propylparaben onto powdered activated carbon

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Abstract

Methylparaben (MeP) and Propylparaben (PrP) are widely used in consumer products and their presence in surface, ground and waste water is a source of concern. They belong to category 1 of the Endocrine Disrupter Priority List for wildlife and human health and hence, these compounds should be completely removed from drinking water in Water Treatment Plants (WTP). Adsorption with powdered activated carbon (PAC) is a solution to eliminate emerging pollutants (ECs), as occurs in Benidorm WTP; however, it is necessary to know the conditions for the removal of these compounds and to optimize its application achieving lower economic costs. With this aim, the process has been characterized studying the adsorption equilibrium and kinetics in single and bicomponent batch experiments, using the commercial carbon Pulsorb PWX HA. The individual adsorption of MeP and PrP by PAC suits an “L” isotherm, according to Giles’ classification. The Langmuir and Freundlich models properly described the adsorption of MeP and PrP in monocomponent experiments. On the other hand, the results from bicomponent experiments suggested the existence of competitive adsorption with lower adsorption capacities for MeP. The multicomponent model Ideal Adsorbed Solution (IAS)-Freundlich predicted with more accuracy the competitive adsorption. For both compounds, the kinetic studies fit the pseudo-second order model. Differences between the removal efficiencies of similar compounds, MeP and PrP, were observed with ultrapure and real water, regarding the PAC dose and the contact time. The removal by adsorption in WTP could be optimized considering the parameters determined in this research.

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Acknowledgements

This study was partially financed by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness via the project “Combined treatments for degradation and removal of emerging pollutants in water” (CTM2013-46669-R). The authors are grateful to project “LIFE EMPORE” (LIFE15 ENV/ES/000598).The authors are also grateful to Water Treatment Plant of Benidorm for providing the activated carbon and information on the plant operation, and to Ana Cristina Martínez Cantos (Grant of the “Promoción de empleo joven e implantación de la garantía juvenil en I+D+I” of the “Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica de Innovación 2013–2016”) and Vicente Cases López for their collaboration in this research. The manuscript has been improved according to the suggestions of the reviewers and the authors are very grateful.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Institute of Water and Environmental Sciences, University of Alicante, PO 99, 03080, Alicante, Spain

    María de los Ángeles Bernal-Romero del Hombre Bueno, Nuria Boluda-Botella & Daniel Prats Rico

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Alicante, PO 99, 03080, Alicante, Spain

    Nuria Boluda-Botella & Daniel Prats Rico

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  1. María de los Ángeles Bernal-Romero del Hombre Bueno
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  2. Nuria Boluda-Botella
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  3. Daniel Prats Rico
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Correspondence to María de los Ángeles Bernal-Romero del Hombre Bueno.

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Bernal-Romero del Hombre Bueno, M., Boluda-Botella, N. & Prats Rico, D. Removal of emerging pollutants in water treatment plants: adsorption of methyl and propylparaben onto powdered activated carbon. Adsorption 25, 983–999 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10450-019-00120-7

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