I did removal of total volatile fatty acid (acetic and butyric acids) from waste water in batch study using shake flask. After that I transfer the optimized parameter (pH, adsorbent dosage and contact time) to a fixed bed column. My objective is to optimize the removal of these acids in batch study without optimizing the parameter for the column (due to cost constraint and other major research objective). What are the possible changes that one can expect from the changes in the system's configuration especially in term of interaction between the adsorbate and adsorbent (isotherm).
It's hard to transfer adsorbent dosage and contact time to the fixed bed column. In the fixed bed column, the amount of adsorbent could be assumed as infinite. So the acetic and butyric acids removal percentage will be much higher than you obtained in the shake flask test at the same contact time.
Thank you for your prompt reply Prof. Wendong Wang. May I know why adsorbent could be assumed as infinite in fixed bed column? Yes, I did get higher removal percentage in column configuration. Shake flask has removed 56% while column has removed 77% of total volatile fatty acids (acetic and butyric acids).
As Prof. Wendong Wang said, it is difficult to transfer optimized parameters to a fixed bed column. According to me, IUPAC adsorption isotherm type (shape of the curve) can be same for both configurations. But adsorbed amount (mg kg-1) will be lower in the fixed bed column study.
Thank you Dr Thanuja for the answer. With all due respect, may I get reference why the adsorbed amount will be higher in the fixed bed column study?
Please note that, according to me, high adsorbed amount is for the batch study rather than fixed bed column study.
In the fixed bed system (normally deal with much higher adsorbent dosage), adsorbed amount may much higher than batch system when we report it as a percentage.
It is better to work with adsorbed amount in the unit mg kg-1 other than using percentage since all the results deal with the amount of adsorbent used for the study.
In general, refer collision theory for the explanation.
Since a collision is (usually) required for a reaction to take place, it is more happening in the shaking or stirring systems rather than flow through gravity or through upward force. Increase in number of collisions will result increase in collisions in the proper orientation for the reaction to occur.
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