Adsorption onto Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) as an Emerging Technology for the Recovery of Aroma Compounds in the Fruit Juice Industry

Abstract

Adsorption/desorption of ethyl 2, 4-decadienoate from the aqueous fruit juice on granular activated carbon (GAC) was investigated as efficient technology in the recovery and concentration of this valuable aroma component, substituting the current rectification column employed in the industrial process. The equilibrium and kinetics of the separation processes were analyzed in a previous work at different temperatures ranging from 283 to 322 K obtaining the kinetic model and parameters that allowed the description of the process. The obtained information was used to calculate the dimensions of a GAC adsorption bed that could be used to treat 7 m 3 h -1 of fruit juice with a concentration of ethyl 2, 4-decadienoate of 0.1 kg m -3 , data that correspond to an industrial process in operation. In the desorption step, ethanol was used as stripping agent. Experimental and simulated data confirmed the possibility of increasing the aroma concentration in the stripping phase up to 20 times the feed value.