Acid Hydrolysis Lignin as a Sorbent for Naphthalene

Lignin, a major polymeric constituent of woody plant tissue, is an abundant source of natural organic matter available as a waste product from the pulp and paper and the fuel ethanol industries. In this study, the sorptive capacity of acid hydrolysis lignin for naphthalene, a representative nonpolar hydrophobic organic compound (HOC), was investigated. When powdered lignin is mixed with distilled water, dissolved and/or colloidal organic matter leaches into the aqueous phase imparting a cloudy yellowish colour. A washing and filtering protocol was developed for pretreating the lignin employed in the sorption studies. Results from batch sorption experiments showed that acid hydrolysis lignin has a strong affinity for naphthalene. The Freundlich isotherm coefficients obtained indicate that the sorption isotherm for naphthalene on hydrolysis lignin is nearly linear. A modified Freundlich equation was employed in order to compare sorption data for HOCs on lignin and activated carbon through the use of unit equivalent coefficients. The results presented in this research and in the literature suggest that the two sorbents are comparable in terms of sorption coefficients. It was determined that acid hydrolysis lignin is unsuitable for use in a packed bed since pumping a naphthalene solution through a column packed with lignin caused the wet lignin to become significantly hardened over time, resulting in a large pressure drop across the system.