Removal of pesticide from wastewater: Contact time optimization for a two-stage batch stirred adsorber

• The contact times of a batch stirred plant for MCPA sorption on Al2O3 were optimized.
• The total contact time increased exponentially with the percentage of removal.
• The optimal first stage contact time was approximately 2/3 of the total contact time.

In the present paper, an experimental and model-based analysis is carried out to optimize the contact times of a batch stirred adsorber to remove the herbicide MCPA, a herbicide that causes serious environmental concerns due to its persistence in the environment. Mesoporous Al2O3 has been used as sorption material.The study shows that a two-stage adsorber offers a satisfactory option to obtain high herbicide removal fractions with short treatment times. An interesting result is that, for high percentages of removal, the optimal first stage contact time can be considered constant and is approximately two thirds of the total contact time for the case in examination.

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