Investigation of sorption of 2,4-dichlorophenol on special hungarian oil shale

The development of efficient methods for the removal of different type of organic contaminates of natural waters is an ever challenging task in the modern environmental technology. The paper reports the physical characterization and adsorption properties of a Hungarian oil shale. Static equilibrium experiments were carried out to study the adsorption of 2,4-dichlorophenol from aqueous solution. The obtained equilibrium data were satisfactorily fitted by a multistep adsorption isotherm within the concentration range of 0 to 100 mg/l. According to our laboratory scale experiments the studied adsorbent immobilizes the contaminants more efficiently than a number of other adsorbents applied in different remediation technologies. More than 90 % of the added 2,4-dichlorophenol was adsorbed by the studied oil shale. The contaminants are bound strongly by the sorbent therefore they cannot be washed out by the groundwater flow which, in turn, favors to the natural bacterial decomposition process of the polluting compound. This is considered as a significant advantage of the adsorbent because no chemical regeneration of the inexpensive oil shale is required. The reported results indicate that the oil shale can be used efficiently for the treatment of natural waters to remove their organic contaminants.