Abstract—Most of the commercial adsorptive separation is
carried out in fixed bed mode. A clear and steady feed is
required for efficient operation of fixed beds. If the feed carries
insoluble matter, it gets trapped in the voids and enhances the
pressure drop across the bed. So, a solid-liquid stable fluidized
bed termed as expanded bed is getting wide applications in the
realm of adsorptive separations. Expanded bed operation is
based on controlled stable fluidization, which combines the
hydrodynamic properties of fluidized bed along with the plug
flow behavior of the packed bed. A comparative performance of
packed and expanded beds is studied here for adsorptive
separation of copper from waste-water. Impact of operating
velocity on column performance is studied in the present work.
The results show the proper choice of adsorbent and operating
conditions can allow for carrying out adsorptive separations in
the expanded bed mode for wastewater treatment with
minimum impact on bed efficiency.
Index Terms—Expanded bed, fluidization, terminal settling
velocity, sedimented bed, copper, waste water.
Yogeshwar N. Thakare is with the Reliance Industries Ltd, Hazira and a
part time research scholar in the Department of Chemical Engineering,
Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, Gujarat, 395007
India (e-mail: tyogeshwar@gmail.com).
Arun Kumar Jana is with the Department of Chemical Engineering,
Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, Gujarat, 395007
India (e-mail: akj@ched.svnit.ac.in).
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Cite: Yogeshwar N. Thakare and Arun Kumar Jana, "Expanded Beds: A Process Solution for Adsorptive
Separations in Waste-Water Treatment," International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications vol. 4, no. 6, pp. 377-381, 2013.
