Pyrolytic valorization of water treatment residuals containing powdered activated carbon as multifunctional adsorbents.

This study investigated the possibility of applying pyrolysis as an alternative method to recycle powdered activated carbon-containing water treatment residuals (PAC-WTRs) discharged from the Cheongju water treatment plant as a multifunctional adsorbent. WTRs pyrolyzed for 1 h at 200-700 °C were compared with raw material. The carbon content of the PAC-WTR reaches 19.27%, with about 25% Al and 17% Si. Changes in PAC through pyrolysis imparted new adsorbent properties to WTR. As the pyrolysis temperature increased, the purity of PAC increased, and pores were regenerated to recover the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) from 6.5 m g to 131.8 m g. In addition, the basicity increased as the carboxylic and phenolic groups on the carbon surface were decomposed, which increased the cation (methylene blue) adsorption capacity and reduced heavy metal leaching. As the coagulant regenerated with increasing pyrolysis temperature, the amount of aluminum leached and phosphate removal efficiency were increased. In the case of simultaneous removal of cations (MB) and anions (PO), the removal efficiency was higher than that for single adsorption without competition through multi-layer adsorption by Al complex and PAC complex. Therefore, the pyrolyzed PAC-WTR is capable of adsorbing and removing anions and cations simultaneously without the peril of substance leaching. The regenerated WTRs containing PAC is expected to be utilized as a multi-functional remediation material for wastewater containing various pollutants.