IWRA Proceedings

AbstractGranular activated carbon filtration has been successfully used in wastewater and drinking water treatment plants, for removal of different pollutants and it is the most efficient conventional treatment method for the purification of water contaminated by other pollutants like pesticides. Levodopa is a drug used to treat Parkinson disease, a progressive condition in which the part of the brain responsible for controlling movement stops functioning properly. In the present study, is reported, for the first time, the adsorption of levodopa from water solution onto activated carbon. The activated carbon was characterized using the low temperature nitrogen adsorption. The equilibrium isotherms at 25 oC were determined. Six models (Langmuir, Jovanovic, Freundlich, Jovanovic-Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson and Radke-Prausnitz) were evaluated to fit the experimental data. The characteristic parameters for each isotherm were calculated and the selection of the most adequate model was performed using the Fisher’s test. From the obtained experimental results, the adsorption process can be well described with Jovanovic-Freundlich model (q=369,21 mg/g, a=0,0042 and =0,52) with an average standard error of estimation of 3,62 %.