Application of a packed column air stripper in the removal of volatile organic compounds from wastewater

Addressing environmental degradation and ensuring environmental sustainability are inextricably linked to all methods of reducing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the environment. A packed column air stripper is a typical example of such technologies for the removal of VOCs from polluted water. The present review is devoted to the applications of a packed column air stripper and, in comparison with previous reviews, presents further elaborations and new information on topics such as modeling and simulation of the dynamic behavior of the air stripping process in a packed column air stripper. The paper observed that a knowledge gap still exists in the synthesis of this knowledge to formulate practically applicable mathematical relationships to describe the process generally. Therefore, further researches are still required in the area of air stripper performance optimization, particularly in the development of a mathematical model and the optimization of an air stripper using a statistical experimental design method. Such a determination is critical to the understanding of the interactive effect of process variables such as temperature, air-to-water (A/W) ratio, and height of packing on air stripper performance.