An Evaluation of Various Carbonaceous and Synthetic Adsorbents for the Treatment of Sulfolane

Sulfolane is an industrial solvent used in a variety of applications. Improper handling, storage, and disposal of pure sulfolane solvent and sulfolane-containing wastes have created contaminated sites. The objective of this research was to investigate the adsorption of sulfolane on a wide variety of adsorbents. In some experiments, the solution consisted of either diisopropanolamine or benzene. It was observed that while the adsorption capacity of GACs and Ambersorb 560 were comparable, the adsorption equilibrium was established much faster on GACs than on Ambersorb 560. The major solutes in groundwater influenced sulfolane adsorption. Additionally, diisopropanol and benzene inhibited sulfolane adsorption. Another objective was to develop a method for the analysis of sulfolane in aqueous solution. The method developed herein is highly reproducible and has a detection limit (MDL) of 30 µg/L, and a quantitation limit (MQL) of 70 µg/L.