OPTIMIZATION OF PRESSURE SWING ADSORPTION EQUIPMENT PART II OPTIMIZATION OF TWO BED OXYGEN GENERATORS

Local equilibrium model described in Part I is used to stimulate both, the steady state operation conditions and transient regime after the start of PSA equipment. The effect of axial dispersion, adsorption isotherm nonlinearity and high pressure level is simulated. On the basis of numerical analysis, the operation of a classical two-bed oxygen generator is compared with two configurations having pressure equalizing step. The optimization strategy of the given PSA equipment has been proposed and the procedure is demonstrated on an example. The scaling-up condition for PSA equipments which can be described by local equilibrium model has been proposed on the basis of the theoretical analysis.     

THE IRREVERSIBLE ADSORPTION OF PLUTONIUM HEXAFLUORIDE†

The room temperature adsorption of PuF_6(g) on a solid substrate was compared to the adsorption of UF6(g) on the same surface. Significantly more PuF_6(g) was adsorbed at pressures in the range of 1.2 to 0.2torr, accompanied by the evolution of molecular fluorine. The adsorbed UF₆ was easily desorbed by reducing the pressure. Most of the adsorbed PuF₆ remained on the surface when subjected to the same treatment.     

Carbonaceous adsorbents from sewage sludge and their application in a combined activated sludge-powdered activated carbon (AS-PAC) treatment

In this study, waste biological sludge is converted to an adsorbent by chemical activation with sulphuric acid. The adsorbent obtained is then applied to the aerated vessel of an activated sludge process treating glucose and phenol to improve the quality of the treated effluent. The sludge-based carbonaceous adsorbent was found to be mesoporous in nature, with a good adsorption capacity for large molecular weight compounds and limited removal efficiency for smaller molecules such as phenol. The addition of carbon, either sludge-based or commercial, enhanced phenol removal from 58% to 98.7% and from 87% to 93% the organic matter removal as measured by the chemical oxygen demand (COD) when operated with feed concentrations of 100 mg phenol/l and 2500 mg COD/l. No differences were found between the activated sludge-activated carbon bench scale continuous reactors operating with either commercial or sludge-based adsorbents in spite of the higher adsorption capacity of the former. It is suggested that powdered adsorbent bioregeneration in the combined AS-PAC system may be impaired by the obstruction of pores due to bacterial growth, the effect being more important for the commercial activated carbon with a narrower pore size distribution.     

EXTERNAL FLUID HEATING OF A POROUS ED

This work deals with the thermal analysis of externally heated porous beds of finite length. A one dimensional model was developed that includes conduction and storage in both the fluid and bed, convective exchange between the fluid and bed, and the effect of adsorption/desorption in the bed. This model results in two coupled differential equations for the fluid and bed temperatures as functions of four independent dimensionless parameters. These equations were solved numerically using finite difference approximations. A truncation error analysis was carried out to maintain an accurate solution. The method of normalization is such that the results of this analysis are of use in bed design when the breakthrough characteristics in finite length beds are of interest. A method to measure bed thermal performance is defined and a means to optimize bed thermal performance is presented. An experiment was conducted to validate the numerically obtained results. A comparison of numerical to experimental results is presented     

Electrochemical and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy studies of 4-phenylpyridine adsorption at the gold/solution interface

The adsorption of 4-phenylpyridine (4-PhPy) on the Au electrode was examined using conventional electrochemical techniques: cyclic voltammetry and impedance measurements and also by surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) in a wide range of electrode potentials. Electrochemical results indicate the strong adsorption of 4-Phpy molecules, particularly at the positively charged Au electrode. The wide shoulder of capacity close to the pzc suggests that the composition and/or the structure of 4-Phpy monolayer change with the sign of the surface charge on the electrode. Investigation of integrity of adsorbed layer, however, indicates that adsorbed molecules do not form tight, compact monolayer even in the case of adsorption from saturated solution. SERS spectra provided evidence for gradual, potential-induced reorientation of the molecular plane with respect to the surface, from nearly vertical in the negatively charged electrode, to more flat at the positively charged metal surface.     

Adsorption and desorption characteristics of 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid onto activated carbon

Adsorption and desorption characteristics of the 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) from aqueous solution onto the activated carbon (GAC, F-400) were studied. Adsorption equilibrium capacities of the MCPA increased with decreasing pH and temperature of the solution. Adsorption equilibrium of the MCPA could be represented by the Sips equation. The internal diffusion coefficients were determined by comparing the experimental concentration decay curves with those predicted from surface diffusion model and pore diffusion model. The adsorption model based on the linear driving force approximation (LDFA) was used for simulating the adsorption behavior of the MCPA in a fixed bed. Over ninety five percent desorption of the MCPA could be obtained using distilled water.     

Adsorption and desorption kinetics of hydrocarbons in FCC catalysts studied using a tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM). Part 2: numerical simulations

The factors affecting the adsorption and desorption kinetics in a TEOM are reviewed in detail with particular attention given to the assumptions required to obtain physical transport parameters from the data. Two models are presented to simulate TEOM adsorption data in the case that concentration differences down the catalyst bed can be neglected, as is appropriate when the amount of catalyst used is small, the carrier gas flowrate is large, and/or the adsorbate partial pressure is low. In the first model, the effective diffusion coefficient, D_e, is taken to be constant. In the second model, the effective diffusion coefficient is assumed to obey the Darken equation, D_e=D₀/(1−θ). The TEOM results obtained on n-hexane, n heptane, n-octane, toluene and p-xylene on a commercial FCC catalyst and on pure rare-earth exchanged zeolite Y under non-reacting conditions (373-) are analysed in detail. It is found that intracrystalline diffusion is not the limiting factor affecting the overall rates of adsorption and desorption for the systems studied. Instead, it is the transport of molecules between the adsorbed and vapour phases at the edge of zeolite crystallites that is the limiting transport step affecting the overall kinetics. For the FCC catalyst, the limiting step is the transport of molecules at the zeolite-matrix interface rather than, say, the matrix-vapour interface. Local rate constants for the desorption of the hydrocarbons at the rate-controlling interface have been obtained.     

LOCAL EQUILIBRIUM THEORY FOR THE DYNAMICS OF NONISOTHERMAL MIXED GAS ADSORPTION OF HIGH-CONCENTRATION COMPONENTS

A local equilibrium theory for nonisothermal gas adsorption is developed which accounts for variations in interstitial gas velocity induced by adsorption. Also presented are expressions describing the entropy admissibility criterion. A solution is developed for a Riemann's problem involving adiabatic gas-phase adsorption where there is no inert diluent and where Langmuir isotherms apply.     

LIQUID PHASE TRANSPORT PROPERTIES IN A HIGH PRESSURE PACKED COLUMN

A mathematical model of fluid flow and mass transfer in a packed bed was derived and used to evaluate the liquid phase axial dispersion and mass transfer coefficients under high pressure conditions. The least-squares method was used to evaluate the rate parameters from experimental breakthrough curves, and the agreement between the concentration curves predicted from rate parameters and those measured experimentally was good. Experiments were performed at 20 and 200°C with water as a solvent and nonporous soda-lime glass beads as packing. Although the axial dispersion coefficient was independent of temperature and pressure, the mass transport parameters were found to be pressure dependent.