Flow-through capacitive deionization (FTCDI) is a traditional improved flow-by CDI cellular structure, used to remove ions from aqueous solutions. In this study, a new FTCDI was designed consisting of mesh electrodes (ME) containing ion-exchange membranes (IEM) and aerogel carbon granules with a specific surface area of 489 m2/g. All analyses and experiments performed showed that the new design can remove nitrate, phosphate, sodium, calcium, and chloride. Under optimal conditions, the new FTCDI system can remove 82.5, 49, 85, and 90% of sodium chloride, calcium chloride, nitrate, and phosphate with a maximum input concentration of 450 mg/L, 450 mg/L, 70 mg/L, and 3 mg/L, respectively. The efficiency of this system was also evaluated for real samples. Findings of the study showed that if the initial amount of turbidity is 12 NTU, total soluble solids (TDS) 1,700 mg/L, total hardness 540 mg/L, phosphate 0.09 mg/L, nitrate 28.8 mg/L, and electrical conductivity (EC) 3,480 μs/cm, the system can remove 25, 23.5, 33.3, 66.6, 54.4, and 39.1%, respectively.
This study investigated removal mechanisms, thermodynamics, and interferences of phosphorus adsorption onto nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI)/activated carbon composite. Activated carbon was successfully used as support for nZVI particles to overcome shortcomings of using nZVI include its tendency to aggregate and separation difficulties. A comprehensive characterization was done for the composite particles, which revealed a high specific surface area of 72.66 m2/g and an average particle size of 37 nm. Several adsorption isotherms and kinetic models have been applied to understand the removal mechanisms. Adsorption isotherm is best fitted by Freundlich and Langmuir models, which indicates that the estimated maximum phosphorus adsorption capacity is 53.76 mg/g at pH 4. Adsorption kinetics showed that the chemisorption process behaved according to a pseudo-second-order model. An adsorption mechanism study conducted using the intra-particle diffusion and Boyd kinetic models indicated that the adsorption rate is limited by surface diffusion. A thermodynamic study showed that phosphorus removal efficiency increased as the solution temperature increased from 15 to 37 °C. Finally, the results of an interference study showed that the presence of Ni2+, Cu2+, Ca2+, Na+ cations, nitrate ions (), and sodium acetate improves removal efficiency, while the presence of sulfate ions (