Synergetic removal of aqueous phenol by ozone and activated carbon within three-phase fluidized-bed reactor

Synergetic removal of aqueous phenol by decomposition with ozone and adsorption on activated carbon was experimentally investigated. To enhance phenol removal performance, two activated carbons (AC1 and AC2) with BET surface areas of 1106 and 1150 m2 g−1 and average pore diameters of 2.3 and 1.7 nm, respectively, were employed. While the slowest initial removal of phenol was achieved with introduction of ozone only, the much better removal of phenol was obtained with utilization of activated carbon with ozone. Some intermediate products, which were detected as total organic carbon (TOC), were found to remain even after phenol was completely decomposed. Regarding to higher mesopore fraction, AC1 could better remove intermediates than AC2. With the synergetic performance of AC1 and ozone it was found that the highest removal of phenol and TOC was up to 100% and 89%, respectively.