Adsorption and regenerative oxidation of trichlorophenol with synthetic zeolite: Ozone dosage and its influence on...

Regeneration of loaded adsorbents is a key step for the sustainability of an adsorption process. In this study, ozone was applied to regenerate a synthetic zeolite for the adsorption of trichlorophenol (TCP) as an organic model pollutant. Three initial concentrations of TCP in water phase were used in adsorption tests. After the equilibrium, zeolite loaded different amounts of TCP was dried and then regenerated with ozone gas. It was found that the adsorption capacity of zeolite was increased through three regeneration cycles. However, the adsorption kinetics was compromised after the regeneration with slightly declined 2nd order reaction constants. The ozone demand for the regeneration was highly dependent on the TCP mass loaded onto the zeolite. It was estimated that the mass ratio of ozone to TCP was 1.2 ± 0.3 g O3/g TCP.