OACTIV-27: Bio-sourced Activated Carbon Production for PFAS/TFA Removal from Water, Process Design and Thermal Modelling of a Pilot-Scale Fixed-Bed Kiln
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Mundetifigueras_39492100_2026.pdf
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- Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and in particular the short-chain trifluoroacetate (TFA), are difficult to remove from drinking water because they are chemically very stable and highly mobile in the aqueous phase. Granular activated carbon (GAC) is one of the most widely used technologies to capture them, and bio-sourced feedstocks can reach the specific surface areas needed for the application (above 1200 m$^2$/g) if they receive the right treatment. This work covers the design and thermal modelling of a fixed-bed kiln producing activated carbon from Belgian hardwood biomass, through a two-step process combining slow pyrolysis and physical steam activation. The thermal model is coupled to the CRECK 2020-03 pyrolysis kinetics to predict the biomass and structural temperatures, and the SPY code is adapted to describe the macroscopic behaviour of a single biomass particle during both the pyrolysis and the activation phases. The prototype is sized for a laboratory environment, so that the main modelling hypotheses can be tested experimentally.