Packed Bed Column for Adsorption of Aqueous Phenols on Cement Kiln Dust

Abstract

Cement kiln dust (CKD) must be disposed of properly, otherwise it may cause severe pollution. The optimum solution is to minimize the undesirable environmental impacts as well as economically use it in different applications. A fixed bed has been used to determine the potential adsorption of three phenolic compounds (cresol, chlorophenol, and nitrophenol) on pelletized CKD. The performance of the fixed bed was evaluated at different bed heights and flow rates for removal of the three phenolic compounds. The results have been used to predict the effect of parameter changes on the system by using the bed depth service time (BDST) model. The pelletized CKD showed good adsorption removal efficiency toward the three tested adsorbates. The experimental data fitted well to the tested models. The maximum bed sorption capacities were 44.71, 37.6, and 33.53 mg/L for cresol, chlorophenol, and nitrophenol, respectively, at a flow rate of 15 cm3/min.