Sustainable reuse of toxic spent granular activated carbon by heterogeneous fenton reaction intensified by temperature changes

A common strategy for removing highly toxic organic compounds, such as chlorinated organic compounds, is their adsorption on granular activated carbon. Spent granular activated carbon results in a toxic residue to manage; therefore, the regeneration and reuse of granular activated carbon on the site would be advisable. This work studies the regeneration of a granular activated carbon saturated in 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene, chosen as the model chlorinated organic compounds, by heterogeneous Fenton, where iron was previously immobilised on the granular activated carbon surface. This methodology avoids the addition of iron to the aqueous phase at concentrations above the allowable limits and the need for acidification. Three successive cycles of adsorption-regeneration were carried out batchwise (5 gGAC·L−1) with a granular activated carbon saturated with 300 mg124-TCB·gGAC−1. The recovery of the adsorption capacity after regeneration was studied with H2O2 (166 mM, 1.5 the stoichiometric dosage), at different concentrations adsorbed with iron adsorbed concentrations (0–12 mgFe·gGAC−1) and temperatures (20–80 °C). Stable recovery of the adsorption capacity values of 65% were obtained at 180 min with 12 mgFe·gGAC−1 and 60 °C. The porosity and surface chemistry of the adsorbent remained very similar after different adsorption-regeneration cycles without iron leaching into the aqueous phase. The oxidant consumption was close to the stoichiometric value for the mineralization of 1,2,4−trichlorobenzene, with a low unproductive consumption of H2O2 with granular activated carbon. In addition, no aromatic or chlorinated by-products were detected in the aqueous solution obtained in the regeneration process. The negligible toxicity of the aqueous phase with the Microtox bioassay confirmed the absence of toxic oxidation by-products.