M. El-Sayed1, M. Ramzi2, R. Hosny2*, M. Fathy3 and Th. Abdel Moghny3 Synthesis of novel amorphous carbon thin film and study its breakthrough curves to adsorb oil from synthetic produced water M. El-Sayed1, M. Ramzi2, R. Hosny2*, M. Fathy3 and Th. Abdel Moghny3 1Analysis and Evaluation Department, Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute(EPRI), 2Production Department, Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute(EPRI), 3Applications Department, Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute (EPRI). ABSTRACT 4. Column studies This paper investigates the adsorption characteristics of amorphous carbon thin film (ACTF) derived from Wood Sawdust (WD) to remove oil from synthetic produced water via column studies. The adsorption of prepared ACTF has been studied using the incorporation of Thomas and Yoon–Nelson models. In this respect, fixed-bed adsorption was conducted to obtain the experimental data for oil adsorption system using ACTF. The performance of the study is described through the breakthrough curves concept under relevant operating conditions such as column bed heights (3.8, 5 and 11 mm) and flow rate (0.5, 1and 1.5 ml.min-1). Its found that the oil uptake mechanism is particularly bed height dependant, favoring higher bed height. Also, the highest bed capacity of 700 mg/g oil of ACTF was achieved at column bed height of 5 mm, and flow rate of 0.5 ml.min-1. The results of breakthrough curve for oil adsorption was best described using the Thomas and Yoon–Nelson models, but it is apparent that the initial region of the breakthrough for oil removal was better described using the Yoon–Nelson models model. Finally, the results illustrate that ACTF could be utilized effectively for the removal of oil from synthetic produced water in a fixed-bed column system. Key words: Amorphous carbon, Breakthrough curve, Oil adsorption, Produced water treatment, Thomas and Yoon–Nelson models, Wood Sawdust. 4.1. Effect of bed height 4.2. Effect of flow rate Objective This study examines the performance of amorphous carbon thin film (ACTF) prepared from wood sawdust (WD) to adsorb oil from synthetic produced water using a fixed bed sorption system. Column dynamics has been investigated by using Thomas and Yoon-Nelson models .The effects of the flow rate and bed height on the breakthrough curves will be investigated. EXPERIMENTAL 1. Materials Wood sawdust (WD) was collected from local workshops furniture trade in Egypt. The collected WD chemomaterial was washed with hot deionized water, dried in a hot air oven at 333 K to a constant weight, crushed with a grinder, sieved to constant sizes (0.1 - 0.07 mm) then store in tight bottle until used. Synthetically produced water was prepared at the desired concentration (1000 mg oil/ l). Cobalt nitrate Co(NO3)2·6H2O, silica, ethanol, H2O2 and sodium hydroxide were purchased from Sigma– Aldrich, 4.3. Kinetic study of Thomas model 2. Method Pretreatments of wood sawdust (WD) Preparation of cobalt silicate nanoparticles Preparation amorphous carbon thin film   (ACTF ) 3. Characterization of ACTF adsorbent 3.1. Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) analysis 4.4. Kinetic study of Yoon–Nelson model Figure 1 The FTIR spectra of a) WS, b) ACTF and c) ACTF after adsorption of oil 3.2. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis 2. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis CONCLUSIONS In this study the ACTF was synthesized from wood sawdust to adsorb oil from synthetic produced water using a fixed bed sorption system. The prepared ACTF was verified before and after oil adsorption using a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer, scanning electron microscope and BET analysis. The ability of prepared ACTF for trapping oil verified through breakthrough curves using Thomas and Yoon-Nelson models to predict the relationship between bed height and flow rate using column process design. The uptake capacity of ACTF increases with increasing the bed height and decreases with increasing the flow rate. A maximum uptake of 700 mg oil/g adsorbent was achieved at 5 mm bed height and 0.5 ml.min-1 flow rate. The experimental data fitted both to the Thomas and Yoon–Nelson models, but the Yoon–Nelson model is better descriptions to the experimental kinetic data than the Thomas model. It was observed that adsorption cycle took 2 h, after that adsorption was negligible. Figure 1 The FTIR spectra of a) WS, b) ACTF and c) ACTF after adsorption of oil 3.3. Textural properties identification BET analysis Corresponding author*: dr.rashahosny@yahoo.com