Polymer-based spherical activated carbon - ultrafiltration (UF-PBSAC) for the adsorption of steroid hormones from water: Material characteristics and process configuration.

The European Union has proposed the value of 1 ng L as a drinking water quality standard for estradiol. With conventional technologies only partially removing estradiol, the investigation of novel alternatives is more than ever required. Tagliavini and Schäfer proposed that the use of a thin activated carbon layer combined with a membrane is worth considering.

Removal of steroid micropollutants by polymer-based spherical activated carbon (PBSAC) assisted membrane filtration.

Effective micropollutant removal requires energy intensive advanced treatment processes. A novel hybrid membrane configuration - consisting of both ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) - with permeate-side polymer-based activated carbon (PBSAC) was developed and investigated for the removal of natural hormones with a particular focus on estradiol (E2). The UF-PBSAC process offers significantly enhanced water permeability and hence energy efficiency, while NF-PBSAC was anticipated to reduce residual micropollutant concentration.

Adsorption of steroid micropollutants on polymer-based spherical activated carbon (PBSAC).

Removal and interaction mechanisms of four different steroid micropollutants, estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), progesterone (P) and testosterone (T) were determined for different types of polymer-based spherical activated carbon (PBSAC). Higher than 90% removal and significantly faster kinetics compared to conventional granular activated carbon (GAC) were observed, while performance was comparable with powdered activated carbon (PAC). No influence of pH in the range 2-12 was determined, while the presence of humic acid (HA) reduced both the removal and the kinetic by up to 20%.