Adsorption and dispersion of selected organic gases flowing through activated carbon adsorber beds

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5480343

Forsythe, Jr, R K

The solid-phase concentration of adsorbate and the adsorption capacity were measured for the adsorptives methane, acetylene, ethane, methanol, acetaldehyde, propane, ethanol, acetone, Freon-113, and toluene. These parameters were determined from dynamic adsorption experiments with a mass-balance analysis of the breakthrough curves. The dimensionless adsorption capacity, defined as the ratio of the solid-phase concentration of adsorbate to the gas-phase concentration of adsorptive, ranged from 40.1 for methane to 6.71 {times} 10{sup 5} for toluene. The adsorption isotherms for five of the selected gases on activated carbon were determined from dynamic adsorption experiments with input concentrations as high as 10,000 ppm. The isotherms encountered were linear, near-linear, and nonlinear; they could be represented by Langmuir and Chakravarti-Dhar theoretical functional forms. The isotherm of acetone was analyzed also with the Dubinin-Radushkevich equation and the Polanyi adsorption potential to predict the micropore volume of the carbon. The dispersion of the adsorptive gases was analyzed from the bed outlet concentration as a function of time. The diffusion coefficients for methane and acetylene were determined from the theories of the longitudinal- and homogeneous-solid-diffusion models. The effects of molecular, intraparticle, and eddy diffusion were measured and compared at various flow velocities. Input concentration boundary conditions included step-up and step-down functions, positive and negative rectangular pulses, positive and negative {delta}-function pulses, and up- and down-staircase functions.

• Research Organization: Kent State Univ., OH (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5480343
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACETALDEHYDE
ACETONE
ACETYLENE
ACTIVATED CARBON
ADSORBENTS
ADSORPTION
ADSORPTION ISOTHERMS
ALCOHOLS
ALDEHYDES
ALKANES
ALKYLATED AROMATICS
ALKYNES
AROMATICS
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
CARBON
DIFFUSION
ELEMENTS
EQUATIONS
ETHANE
ETHANOL
FREONS
HALOGENATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
ISOTHERMS
KETONES
METHANE
METHANOL
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
POROSITY
PROPANE
QUANTITY RATIO
SORPTION
SORPTIVE PROPERTIES
SURFACE PROPERTIES
TIME DEPENDENCE
TOLUENE