Mathematical Tool Based on Breakthrough Curves to Evaluate the Economic Advantages of Chemical Regeneration of Activated Carbon in Power Plants: A Comparative Study

A mathematical tool has been developed to evaluate the economic advantages of in-situ chemical regeneration of fixed-bed industrial adsorbers of granular activated carbon for cooling water treatment systems in Cuban power plants. Two scenarios of activated carbon (AC) management in a power plant were compared by applying the proposed model. The economic profit by implementing the regeneration strategy as a function of the number of regeneration cycles was determined and optimized. Breakthrough curves were obtained to assess the adsorption performance of the AC after progressive saturation-chemical regeneration cycles using synthetic water and hydrochloric acid, respectively. For the first saturation cycle, the breakthrough time was 272 min and after 10 cycles, it was reduced to 58 min, indicating a decrease of the adsorption capacity of 21%. The AC adsorption performance in terms of saturation time as a function of the number of regeneration cycles was considered one of the tool parameters. The proposed tool allows to determine the optimal number of regeneration cycles for a maximum economic profit in the regeneration strategy. It was demonstrated, using the proposed tool, that after an optimum of seven regeneration cycles, the power plant expends only 26% of the total investment. The simplicity of the tool permits a rapid way to find the most profitable number of regeneration cycles by combining economic, technical and adsorption efficiency parameters in one function, thus improving the AC management strategy at an industrial scale with corresponding environmental and economic advantages, including sustainability.

Automated summary

A mathematical tool has been developed to evaluate the economic benefits of in-situ chemical regeneration of fixed-bed industrial adsorbers of granular activated carbon in Cuban power plants. The tool allows for determining the optimal number of regeneration cycles for maximum economic profit, improving AC management at an industrial scale. This study demonstrated that after seven regeneration cycles, the power plant only spends 26% of the total investment, showing significant environmental and economic advantages.