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Title: Sorption and chemical transformation of PAHs on coal fly ash

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7104665· OSTI ID:7104665

The results obtained to date indicate that toluene is a useful probe solute'' for measuring the relative affinities of various fly ash fractions for aromatic solutes. In general, the adsorption isotherms obtained for toluene on fly ash fractions can be fit to a Freundlich adsorption isotherm equation, which implies that the adsorbent surface in question is heterogeneous. For most fly ash fractions studied thus far, the measured heat of adsorption decreases as the quantity of toluene injected onto the column increases. This observation also indicates that the fly ash surfaces are heterogeneous. For a homogeneous (or nearly homogeneous) surface, virtually all adsorption sites'' for a particular solute exhibit approximately the same affinity for the solute; hence, the measured heat of adsorption is virtually independent of the amount of solute that is brought into contact with the surface. However, when the surface is heterogeneous, the measured heat of adsorption decreases as the amount of solute is increased; this variation can be used to make inferences regarding surface site energy distributions if certain assumptions and approximations are made. Data obtained to date are summarized.

Research Organization:
Tennessee Univ., Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
FG22-91PC91306
OSTI ID:
7104665
Report Number(s):
DOE/PC/91306-3; ON: DE93000518
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English