Authors: R. Gnirss, F. Rückbeil, A. Sperlich, A. S. Ruhl, C. Hoera, A. Kämpfe
Synopsis:
- A comparative analysis of several commercially available media was performed using jar tests to evaluate PFAS removal efficiency (n=12), removal of organic micropollutants (OMP) (n=16), and impacts of dissolved organic matter (DOM). Analyses were performed in tap water, fortified with a mixture of PFAs and OMP (0.3-9.9 µg/L) and DOC (4.5 mg/L) at a pH of 7.5, with adsorbent concentrations of 20 and 50 mg/L.
- Media tested included several activated carbon: bituminous, extruded charcoal, and lignate, strong base ion exchange resin: microporous and gellular, surface modified clay’s from various manufacturers, including CETCO’s FLUORO-SORB® 200 Adsorbent and FLUORO-SORB® Flex Adsorbent (SMC1 and SMC2), as well as SMCs produced from other base clay by different manufacturers, alternative media such as cyclodextrin based adsorbents, and BEA adsorbents.
- FLUORO-SORB® 200 Adsorbent and FLUORO-SORB® Flex Adsorbent were observed to have little to no impact from the DOC content, while displaying strong adsorptive performance for both PFCA and PFSA compounds, with stronger adsorption with longer carbon chain compounds. These results corroborated a prior large scale ground water pilot study held in the United States.
- FLUORO-SORB® 200 Adsorbent and FLUORO-SORB® Flex Adsorbent showed some removal of anionic OMP but did not show adsorption of cationic or neutral OMPs , which is to be expected based on the ion exchange nature of FLUORO-SORB® Adsorbents binding mechanism.
Brief: FLUORO-SORB® 200 Adsorbent and FLUORO-SORB® Flex Adsorbent were compared to several commercially available media for PFAS removal efficiency as well as DOC impact and sorption of organic micropollutants. In this study, the FLUORO-SORB® Adsorbents had comparable or stronger performance for PFAS removal than GAC, including for PFBS and TFMSA. Notably, DOC had no impact of PFAS adsorption for FLUORO-SORB® Adsorbents, which corroborates a large scale pilot study held in the US previously.
