Adsorbents for Dioxins:  A New Technique for Sorbent Screening for Low-Volatile Organics

Dioxins are generated in all waste incinerators, and activated carbon has been used since 1991 as the adsorbent. However, no equilibrium adsorption information is available because no experimental technique has been developed for measuring adsorption for such low-volatile organic compounds at the low concentrations that are of interest (i.e., parts per trillion to parts per billion levels). A new technique based on temperature-programmed desorption is developed for quick screening of sorbents and for determination of the activation energy for desorption. This information is used further for estimating the equilibrium isotherm. Twelve sorbents are screened for dioxin (nonchloro form) adsorption, and the equilibrium isotherms are estimated.