Intensification of the adsorption process to remove Iopamidol from water using granular activated carbon: Use of Rotating Packed Reactor and ultrasound technique in continuous flow technology

Conventional wastewater treatment methods are ineffective at degrading Iopamidol (IPM), allowing this pharmaceutical compound to penetrate aquatic systems, raising concerns about potential ecological impacts. Adsorption using granular activated carbon (GAC) represents an effective technique for IPM removal from water. This study focuses on the development of innovative technological approaches for the effective removal of IPM using Rotating Packed Beds (RPBs) and ultrasound enhancement techniques. These methods not only promise improved efficiency in pollutant removal but are also applicable on an industrial scale, making them significant advancements in wastewater treatment technologies. RPB system is investigated to replace the common impeller in batch system using the centrifugal acceleration to intensify the mass transfer processes. At the same time, the application of ultrasounds in a continuous flow system can result in process intensification increasing the productivity with lower impact on the environment and this dynamic system enables an evaluation of the adsorbent saturation in relation to the space, time and length of the adsorption column. In this paper the intensification of IPM adsorption was performed using the RPB and a continuous flow system in presence of ultrasounds, an improvement of the conventional adsorption process of 13 % and 64 % respectively was shown.