A SEMINAR PRESENTATION

PROJECT TOPIC: MODELLING THE RATE OF ADSORPTION

OF CRUDE OIL BY BIOLOGICAL ACTIVATED CARBON WITH
THE APPLICATION OF LEAST SQUARE METHOD.

PRESENTED BY: DOUGLAS, BOMA PRINCE

MATRICULATION NUMBER: UG/09/1368
SUPERVISED BY: DR C.P UKPAKA

THIS SEMINAR PRESENTATION COVERS

PHASE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCEPT OF
BIOLOGICAL ACTIVATED CARBON
PHASE 2: DISCUSSION ON PREVIOUS LITERATURE
PHASE 3: EXPERIMENTAL MATERIAL AND METHODS
APPLIED DURING RESEARCH
THESIS PROGRESS REPORT

HAVE YOU HEARD OF BIOLOGICAL ACTIVATED

CARBON?
Attempts at getting rid of Refractory
Organics eventually led to a break through
in 1961 at Amstaad Water Plant. It involved
the combination of ozonation and
activated Carbon treatment.

INTRO TO BIOLOGICAL ACTIVATED CARBON

By 1978, G.W. Miller and R.G. Rice of the

United States and Switzerland respectively
proposed the Bio-activated Carbon Process
in a work titled Biological Activated
Carbon and its use in treating Drinking
Water.

What exactly is Bio-Activated

Carbon?
Bio-Activated Carbon is a system that
brings together the action of Activated
Carbon and Biological Oxidation by Micro
Organisms to create a process with
greater efficiency in dissolved Organic
Carbon (DOC) removal than either of the
two parent processes.

HOW DOES THIS STUFF WORK?

In Bio-Activated Carbon, Activated Carbon is used as a
Carrier, accumulating or artificially immobilizing Micro
organisms under proper temperature and nutrition
conditions.
Cell Immobilization is defined as the physical
confinement or localisation of viable microbial cells to a
certain defined region of space such that their free
migration is limited in an area exhibiting hydro dynamic
characteristics differing from prevalent environment.

What is Already known about BAC

processes?
According to Literature from C .L. Cavalcante et al
Industrial Adsorption Processes are classified under
three considerations;
1. Sorbate Concentration
2. Modes of Operation
3. Adsorbent Regeneration

SORBENT CONCENTRATION
This is sub-classified as either Purification processes or Bulk
separation processes.
In purification, trace contaminants are eliminated from a
process stream while Bulk separation aims to selectively
recover components in a mixture by adsorption.
BAC as applied in this thesis will be considered as a
Purification process.

MODES OF OPERATION
Sub-classes considered under mode of operation
include;

Cyclic Batch
Continuous Counter Current
Chromatographic Analysis
BAC process will be handled as a Batch Operation for
purposes of this thesis.

ADSORBENT REGENERATION

Temperature Swing Adsorption (TSA)

Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA)
Desorption Displacement
Purge with Inerts
For purposes of this thesis, these shall be considered
beyond the works scope.

 A SIMPLE ILLUSTRATION
OF THE BAC PROCESS.

ACCORDING TO XIANBAO WANG ET AL

The activated carbon used in BAC process, should be
highly developed in pore structure, especially for the
filter pores. Quality of the outflow is directly
influenced by the filtering velocity, height of the
carbon layer, the retention period and the gas-water
ratio. In practice, the general filtering rate is 8-15 km/h

WALTER J. WEBER JR
Adsorption of an impurity from water on to activated carbon
may result from solute hydrophobicity, or it may be caused
by a high affinity of the solute for the carbon. For most
systems encountered in waste treatment, adsorption results
from a combination of these factors. The solubility of a
substance in water is significant: solubility in the sense of the
chemical compatibility between the water and the solute.
The more hydrophilic a substance the less likely it is to be
adsorbed. Conversely, a hydrophobic substance will more
likely be adsorbed.

KERRY BLACK
Integrated treatment processes that
combine oxidation processes and activated
carbon biofilters have been shown to be
very effective at reducing natural organic
matter (NOM) levels.

 Bio-filtration is a critical part of this integrated process:

Key purpose is to remove BDOC formed during oxidation,
thereby reducing Disinfection By-Products Formation
Potential & potential regrowth
Insufficient or inadequate bacterial growth within the
filter leads to;
Incomplete removal of biodegradable organic matter
Increased potential of DBP formation
Production of biologically unstable water
Implications on treatment efficiency & distribution system
health

Electron microscope view of

Activated Carbon Filter Pores.

DID YOU NOTICE THE DEFECT IN THE

LITERATURE?
Despite all the various aspects of research, There is no
data or Information on the response of Bio-Activated
Carbon and its associated Biofilters to Crude Oil.
Nevertheless this thesis will hopefully provide desired
data and information as it concerns Crude Oil.

THIS IS HOW THE EXPERIMENTATION WILL BE DONE

Four wood types are going to be used for preparation
of Activated Charcoal/Carbon. The wood types are;
Hard Wood
Semi Hard Wood
Soft Wood
Indian Bamboo

 Chosen Biological Agent is Green Algae (Pithophora).

Algae will be Sun dried in preparation for
immobilization.
Pyrolysis was carried out on the wood to obtain
charcoal for further activation.
Activation of Charcoal is done using Calcium Chloride
CaCl2.

METHOD
Four experimental set ups will be made.
Identical Crude Oil : Water ratio will be applied to
each System.
Physicochemical Analysis will be carried out to
determine;
pH Content
Organic Compounds Concentration.

Particle Size Analysis

Bulk Density Analysis
Pore Volume determination
Porosity Analysis
Bacteria content Analysis
BOD5
After these are obtained, the final model may be
developed.

UNFORTUNATELY, WORK HAS ONLY GONE THUS FAR

Carbonation of wood samples have been carried out.

However, Pyrolysis yielded an average of 79% weight
loss in each case causing a need of more wood
samples.
Green Algae has been Acquired and dried.
Crude Oil sample is available.

I THINK THATS ALL FOR NOW