
Empty Bed Contact Time (EBCT), represents the hydraulic flow rate through a GAC bed and is usually reported in “minutes”. Simply put, it is the volume of media (in gallons, m3, ft3) divided by the flow volume (in gallons, m3, ft3) per unit of time (minutes, hours). A one cubic ft GAC filter is 7.5 gallons of GAC. A flow of water through that filter at 2.5 gpm has an EBCT of (7.5/2.5) = 3 minutes. Just make sure you use the same volume units to do the calculation. A GAC filter must have sufficient EBCT to do the job plus enough safety margin to cover variations in the quality of the water being treated. Organics such as pesticides and THM’s require long EBCTs because of the safety margin needed. Think of the “consequences of failure” when sizing your design.
Full Answer
How much GAC is needed to treat 1000 gallons of water?
In this research, a CUR of 0.2 pounds GAC per 1000 gallons water treated (~24 mg GAC per liter water treated) was considered an indicator of GAC treatment feasibility.
What is GAC in a water treatment plant?
Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) is commonly employed as an adsorption media in many surface water treatment plants. Most plants, however, also rely on GAC to provide effective filtration, as turbidity reduction is an essential element in maintaining desired water quality.
What is the VOC calculator (XLS)?
The VOC Calculator (XLS, 90kb) is a spreadsheet that will calculate both VOC values based on the solids, water content and density of the material.
What is the best size GAC for a drinking water system?
Initially, a 12x40 mesh GAC was the standard, as this size most closely approximated the effective size of sand. In an effort to retain the filtration properties but reduce the head loss, the 8x30 product was introduced. This allowed for higher filtration rates and remains the largest type of GAC supplied to the municipal drinking water market.

How is GAC calculated?
flow volume (in gallons, m3, ft3) per unit of time (minutes, hours). A one cubic ft GAC filter is 7.5 gallons of GAC. A flow of water through that filter at 2.5 gpm has an EBCT of (7.5/2.5) = 3 minutes. Just make sure you use the same volume units to do the calculation.
Does GAC remove VOCs?
GAC is a proven technology with high removal efficiencies (up to 99.9%) for many VOCs, including trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE). In most cases, GAC can remove target contaminants to concentrations below 1 µg/l.
How do you calculate the efficiency of activated carbon?
Efficiency. Efficiency is determined by the type of pollutant, the type of activated carbon which is used and the temperature and humidity of the waste gases. An effective installation can be expected to realise a yield between 95 – 98 % for input concentrations of 500 – 2 000 ppm.
How is adsorption capacity of activated carbon calculated?
adsorption capacity ( mg/gm) = [( Co - Ce) /m] x V, Co - Initial conc in ppm, Ce - Conc at equilibrium, m - mass of the adsorbent , V is the volume of solution containing solute ( adsorb ate) . i hope ,the equation used for the calculation is correct.
How do I remove VOC from wastewater?
Most wastewater treatment AOPs use combinations of ozone, hydrogen peroxide and UV light. Air stripping. This process strips VOCs by way of contact with clean air across a high surface area, causing the volatiles to transfer from the water to the air. Reverse osmosis/ultrafiltration.
What does a GAC filter remove?
A filter with granular activated carbon (GAC) is a proven option to remove certain chemicals, particularly organic chemicals, from water. GAC filters also can be used to remove chemicals that give objectionable odors or tastes to water such as hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggs odor) or chlorine.
How is adsorption rate calculated?
where A = qW/(C0F) and B = qρB/(kνC0). ... line with an intercept (slope) of A (B). ... adsorption rate constant (kν) and the amount adsorbed (q), so that the breakthrough behaviour of.a packed bed adsorbate can be predicted. ... the slope (B) of the linear fit to the elapsed time (tx) plotted as a function of the logarithm of the.More items...
How do you calculate bulk density of activated carbon?
The apparent density, sometimes called the bulk density of activated carbon, or volumetric density is defined as the mass of many particles of the activated carbon divided by the total volume they occupy.
What is mb value of activated carbon?
Unwashed Activated Carbon Powder1Name of the productActivated carbon powder (unwashed)5M B value mg/gm4006pH of 1% water extract9 to 117% Ash content10 to 128Iron (ppm) max70013 more rows
What is maximum adsorption capacity?
The general performance metric for sorbent is its maximum adsorption capacity in which the maximum amount of an adsorbate loadable on an adsorbent is determined from isotherms. Such a metric is useful to ascertain the maximum possible capacity obtained at high adsorbate partial pressures (e.g., >1,000 Pa).
What is the difference between adsorption capacity and removal efficiency?
qe defines adsorption capacity i.e. unit weight of adsorbate (mg) adsorbent on per gram of adsorbent and is expressed as mg/g. Removal % defines the quantity of adsorbate removed in percentage (%) from a particular volume of adsorbate soluton.
What is working capacity in adsorption?
A working capacity for the adsorbent, defined as the difference between the amount adsorbed under the feed condition and that at the impurity concentration just leaving the adsorber at the end of the purge step, is employed for selecting the best adsorbent and the optimal bed layering.
How does regulatory VOC work?
The regulatory VOC calculates the VOC less exempts and water , which is a more complicated calculation than the actual VOC, in that it subtracts the volume of water and the volume of exempt compounds from the volume of material, in the denominator.
What is the VOC of coating?
The VOC of coating/colorant/adhesive is the same as the term “regulatory VOC,” which is equivalent to the term "VOC, less water and exempts.". The VOC of material is the same as the term "actual VOC," which is equivalent to the term "VOC, including water and exempts.".
What is GAC used for?
When GAC is used for filtration, adsorption, and as a biological support media , this benefit is even more pronounced, as backwashing is required on a more frequent basis. Bituminous coal-based GAC offers the greatest resistance against abrasion as indicated by this measurement.
Why use GAC for plants?
Most plants, however, also rely on GAC to provide effective filtration, as turbidity reduction is an essential element in maintaining desired water quality. Often used in conjunction with sand and gravel, GAC provides many additional benefits when utilized as the filtration media.
What is the most common starting material for GAC?
Coal is the most common starting material for GAC, and the three primary are bituminous, sub-bituminous or lignite. The selection of the starting material greatly impacts the quality of the finished product as it relates to adsorption and filtration parameters. Equally important is the manufacturing process itself which is either a reagglomeration process or a direct activation process.
What is a high density GAC?
First, high density GAC products have more carbon structure. In addition, a denser product indicates that for each cubic foot of volume, more GAC can be installed. The denser material also provides a stronger material which is better able to withstand frequent backwashing.
What is the process of manufacturing GAC?
There are two types of manufacturing processes that further define the GAC, either reagglomeration or direct activation. The reagglomerated bituminous coal-based product produces an activated carbon that is denser, more resistant to abrasion, and which has more uniform activation throughout the granule.
Can man made contaminants be removed?
In groundwater treatment, for example, man-made contaminants can often be effectively removed utilizing GAC. For both surface water and groundwater, this is of great significance when considering the health effects of certain compounds such as pesticides.
Is GAC a filtration media?
In addition to the importance of the adsorption benefits of GAC, the filtration benefits are also significant, as GAC serves a dual role of being a highly effective filtration media. As GAC particles are typically larger than the traditional sand media, design and performance considerations are necessary to properly employ the benefits ...
Popular Answers (1)
I have been screening the previous answers and I think I may add a few points; I apologize if I happen to repeat anything that was previously mentioned.
All Answers (18)
If you want to use an internal Standard, it is usually recommended, that the molecul is not too far away from the target molecule...on the other hand: you would not use more than one, maximum too internal standards per method, you mostly calculate your results according too one reliable value.
Similar questions and discussions
How can I calculate the concentration from a gc/ms chromatogram which is having retention time and peak area only?
