DETERMINATION OF NONLINEAR ADSORPTION-ISOTHERMS FROM COLUMN EXPERIMENTS - AN ALTERNATIVE TO BATCH STUDIES

From measured breakthrough curves of sorbing chemicals in local equili brium, one can obtain the entire nonlinear adsorption isotherm by a si mple integration. The feasibility of the procedure is demonstrated by comparing nonlinear adsorption isotherms obtained from column experime nts with batch studies for sorption of a heavy metal and an organic ca tion on sand. The advantages and drawbacks of this technique for the m easurement of isotherms on materials of environmental origin are discu ssed.