Abstract

LI, Qingsong; MA, Xiaoyan; GAO, Naiyun  and  CHU, Wenhai. Removal of 17 a-ethynylestradiol from aqueous solutions by a hybrid PAC/UF process. Water SA [online]. 2017, vol.43, n.1, pp.116-121. ISSN 1816-7950.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v43i1.14.

This study investigated the removal of 17a-ethynylestradiol (EE2) from water using activated carbon adsorption and powdered activated carbon/ultrafiltration (PAC/UF). EE2 was easily adsorbed by PAC. The adsorption of EE2 fitted the Freundlich model well. The influences of initial EE2 concentration, filtration rate, PAC dose, natural organic matter (NOM), and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) were investigated. The EE2 concentration and filtration rate had no significant effect on EE2 removal, whereas the addition of PAC had a significant effect on EE2 removal. The removal rate of EE2 increased dramatically from 7.01% to 80.03% as the PAC dose was increased from 0 to 10 mg/L. Both SDBS and NOM decreased the EE2 removal efficiency. The removal efficiency of EE2 in the PAC/UF process decreased from 86.77% to 42.64% as the SDBS concentration was increased from 0 to 50 mg/L. It was concluded that activated carbon adsorption and PAC/UF can be used for the effective removal of EE2 from water.

Keywords : 17-α-ethynylestradiol; adsorption; ultrafiltration; PAC [UF process]; removal efficiency.

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