Purification of Wastewater from Biomass-Derived Syngas Scrubber Using Biochar and Activated Carbons

Enrico Catizzone, Corradino Sposato, Assunta Romanelli, Donatella Barisano, Giacinto Cornacchia, Luigi Marsico, Daniela Cozza and Massimo Migliori
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Enrico Catizzone: ENEA-Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Trisaia Research Center, Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources, I-75026 Rotondella, Italy
Corradino Sposato: ENEA-Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Trisaia Research Center, Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources, I-75026 Rotondella, Italy
Assunta Romanelli: ENEA-Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Trisaia Research Center, Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources, I-75026 Rotondella, Italy
Donatella Barisano: ENEA-Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Trisaia Research Center, Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources, I-75026 Rotondella, Italy
Giacinto Cornacchia: ENEA-Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Trisaia Research Center, Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources, I-75026 Rotondella, Italy
Luigi Marsico: Department of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, University of Calabria, via P. Bucci, 44a, I-87036 Rende, Italy
Daniela Cozza: Department of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, University of Calabria, via P. Bucci, 44a, I-87036 Rende, Italy
Massimo Migliori: Department of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, University of Calabria, via P. Bucci, 44a, I-87036 Rende, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-20

Abstract: Phenol is a major component in the scrubber wastewater used for syngas purification in biomass-based gasification plants. Adsorption is a common strategy for wastewater purification, and carbon materials, such as activated carbons and biochar, may be used for its remediation. In this work, we compare the adsorption behavior towards phenol of two biochar samples, produced by pyrolysis and gasification of lignocellulose biomass, with two commercial activated carbons. Obtained data were also used to assess the effect of textural properties (i.e., surface area) on phenol removal. Continuous tests in lab-scale columns were also carried out and the obtained data were processed with literature models in order to obtain design parameters for scale-up. Results clearly indicate the superiority of activated carbons due to the higher pore volume, although biomass-derived char may be more suitable from an economic and environmental point of view. The phenol adsorption capacity increases from about 65 m/g for gasification biochar to about 270 mg/g for the commercial activated carbon. Correspondingly, service time of commercial activated carbons was found to be about six times higher than that of gasification biochar. Finally, results indicate that phenol may be used as a model for characterizing the adsorption capacity of the investigated carbon materials, but in the case of real waste water the carbon usage rate should be considered at least 1.5 times higher than that calculated for phenol.

Keywords: biomass; syngas scrubber wastewater; environmental pollution; pollutant abatement technologies; biochar; adsorption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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