Digital Proceeding Of THE ICOEST’2013 - , Cappadocia C.Ozdemir, S. Şahinkaya, E. Kalıpcı, M.K. Oden (editors) Nevsehir, Turkey, June 18 – 21, 2013 Adsorption of Phenol from Industrial Wastewater using Commercial Powdered Activated Carbon Dr. Khalid Farhod Chasib Al-Jiboury* 1 1 Chemical Engineering Department, University of Technology, Baghdad, IRAQ. (E-mail: khalid_farhod@uotechnology.edu.iq ) ABSTRACT Adsorption studies for phenol removal from aqueous solution onto commercial Powdered Activated Carbon were carried out. Batch kinetics and isotherm studies were carried out under varying conditions of contact time, initial phenol concentration, adsorbent dose and pH. The adsorption of phenol increases with increasing initial phenol concentration and decreases with increasing the solution pH value. The equilibrium data in aqueous solutions was well represented by the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Kinetics of adsorption followed a first order rate equation. The studies showed that the Commercial Powdered Activated Carbon can be used as an efficient adsorbent material for the removal of phenolics from water and industrial wastewater. Keywords: Powdered Activated carbon, Adsorption, Phenol, Isotherm, Aqueous system. 1. INTRODUCTION Many industrial wastes contain organics which are difficult, or impossible, to remove by conventional biological treatment processes [1]. Phenols as a class of organics are similar in structure to the more common herbicides and insecticides in that they are resistant to biodegradation. Phenols are widely used for the commercial production of a wide variety of resins including phenolic resins, which are used as construction materials for automobiles and appliances, epoxy resins and adhesives, and polyamide for various applications [2]. In the presence of chlorine in drinking water, phenols form chlorophenol, which has a medicinal taste [3-6]. Phenolics constitute the 11th of the 126 chemicals which have been designated as priority pollutants by the United States Environmental Protection Agency [1]. Stringent US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations call for lowering phenol content in the wastewater to less than 1 mg l -1 [7]. Activated carbon is an effective adsorbent primarily due to its extensive porosity and very large available surface area. There are many methods such as oxidation, precipitation, ion exchange and solvent extraction to remove phenolic materials from aqueous solution. However, in water treatment the most widely used method is adsorption onto the surface of activated carbon [8]. Activated carbons are widely used as an adsorbent for the removal of a wide range of pollutants from various hosting matrices and not those incorporated in the crystal lattice because of their high adsorption capacity, fast adsorption kinetics and ease of regeneration. Several researchers have been reported the adsorption theory and applications of the solid phase extraction to remove phenol from wastewater. Activated carbons are complex and heterogeneous material made of wood, coconut shells, coal, etc with unique adsorptive