Adsorption of pharmaceuticals in a fixed-bed column using tyre-based activated carbon: Experimental investigations and numerical modelling

Highlights: • Nano particle size increased adsorption capacity of tyre char substantially. • Surface area of activated tyre char (ACT) increased twelve-fold following activation. • Adsorption capacity of ACT char was comparable with commercial activated carbon. • Non-equilibrium Hydrus-1D model fitted the experimental breakthrough curve well. Magnetic tyre char (MTC), activated tyre char (ATC) and commercial activated carbon (CAC) were used as packing materials in lab-scale column study for the adsorption of three pharmaceuticals: propranolol (PRO), ciprofloxacin (CIP) and clomipramine (CLO), from aqueous solution. The obtained breakthrough curves (BTCs) suggest that, lower flow rate, greater bed height, higher pH and nano particle size led to increased adsorption of PRO. The lowest adsorption capacity was observed for CIP either from single or ternary solution while it was significantly higher for CLO. Surface area of ATC increased nearly twelve-fold (38.17 to 453.81 m²/g), after thermal and chemical activation and adsorption capacity was comparable to commercial activated carbon. The suitability of Hydrus-1D model incorporating chemical non-equilibrium process to simulate the pharmaceutical transport and fit experimental BTCs was demonstrated (97.29 2 3 which can be deemed as commercially feasible.