Multicomponent adsorption on activated carbons under supercritical conditions

Adsorption of binary mixtures onto activated carbon Norit R1 for the system nitrogen-methane-carbon dioxide was investigated over the pressure range up to 15 MPa. A new model is proposed to describe the experimental data. It is based on the assumption that an activated carbon can be characterized by the distribution function of elements of adsorption volume (EAV) over the solid-fluid potential. This function may be evaluated from pure component isotherms using the equality of the chemical potentials in the adsorbed phase and in the bulk phase for each EAV. In the case of mixture adsorption a simple combining rule is proposed, which allows determining the adsorbed phase density and its composition in the EAV at given pressure and compositions of the bulk phase. The adsorbed concentration of each adsorbate is the integral of its density over the set of EAV. The comparison with experimental data on binary mixtures has shown that the approach works reasonably well. In the case of high-pressure binary mixture adsorption, when only total amount adsorbed was measured, the proposed model allows reliably determining partial amounts of the adsorbed components.     

Determination of the Adsorbed Phase Volume and Its Application in Isotherm Modeling for the Adsorption of Supercritical Nitrogen on Activated Carbon

Experimental excess adsorption isotherms of nitrogen on activated carbon were measured in the range of 103-298 K and pressures up to 10 MPa. A method for determining the volume of the adsorbed phase from the experimental data for the supercritical temperatures was proposed. Such a volume with a new isotherm equation was used in modeling experimental excess isotherms, and a satisfactory fit was achieved. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Determination of Absolute Gas Adsorption Isotherms by Combined Calorimetric and Dielectric Measurements

A new method to determine absolute masses of gas adsorbed on the external and internal surfaces of a porous solid is proposed. It consists on a combination of calorimetric and dielectric measurements. These lead to the enthalpy and the dielectric polarization of the adsorbed phase from which by purely thermodynamic calculations the absolute mass adsorbed can be determined without using the so-called helium volume hypothesis nor any other equivalent assumption.As example adsorption of subcritical carbon dioxide (CO₂) on zeolite (Degussa DAY) at 298 K and pressures up to 0,4 MPa is considered. As expected data of absolute masses adsorbed are always somewhat larger than the corresponding Gibbs excess masses calculated from both volumetric and gravimetric measurements via the helium volume of the zeolite.     

超临界甲烷在活性炭上的吸附平衡分析

为分析由吸附平衡时的热力参数确定吸附量、吸附模型和等量吸附热精度的影响因素,选择在温度268.15~338.15 K和压力0~13.5 MPa测试的甲烷在Ajax活性炭上的吸附平衡数据,通过引入甲烷分子可进入活性炭吸附空间内的容积和可以不考虑甲烷在孔内吸附的临界孔宽的概念,依据甲烷在吸附平衡前后的总量守恒,确定甲烷在吸附池内的总量、绝对吸附量和过剩吸附量三者之间的关系式。结果表明,在引入吸附质分子可进入吸附空间内的容积和临界孔宽后,经由活性炭的孔径分布(PSD),可以准确计算甲烷在活性炭上的过剩吸附量;应用实验数据非线性回归Toth方程参数后,可由Gibbs关于吸附的定义确定甲烷在活性炭上的绝对吸附量。比较结果时发现,由于未考虑本体相中甲烷分子对吸附甲烷分子的影响,采用过剩吸附量的等量吸附线标绘确定的等量吸附热数值偏高,工程应用时应由绝对吸附量来确定等量吸附热。     

Determination of the micropore volume distribution function of activated carbons by gas adsorption

A new method for the determination of the micropore volume distribution function of activated carbons is presented. It is based on the treatment of pure gas adsorption isotherms by a theoretical model derived from the Hill-de Boer theory. Adsorption data (isotherms and heat curves) for carbon dioxide, ethane and ethylene on activated carbon (F30/470 CHEMVIRON CARBON) have been provided by a thermobalance coupled to a calorimeter (TG-DSC 111 SETARAM) at different temperatures (233, 273, 303 and 323 K) for pressures up to 100 kPa. Adsorption isotherms of carbon dioxide and ethane at 303 and 323 K have been used for the determination of the micropore volume distribution function of the activated carbon of interest. The knowledge of its structure has then allowed the simulation of adsorption isotherms and heats for the same adsorbates at the same temperatures as those experimentally studied. Similar calculations have been conducted for ethylene. Whatever the adsorbate (carbon dioxide and ethane used for the determination of the micropore volume distribution function or ethylene), the mean deviation between experimental and calculated isotherms does not exceed 4% at quasicritical and supercritical temperatures (303 and 323 K). In the same temperature conditions, discrepancies between calculation and experiment reach about 10% for adsorption heats. For both isotherms and heats, large discrepancies appear at low temperature (233 and 273 K). This method allows the determination of the micropore volume distribution function of activated carbons. The validity of the results is insured using several isotherms of several adsorbates and taking into account the calorimetric effect of the phenomenon. That is the reason why this method can also be seen as a new possible model for pure gas adsorption data prediction. This paper also presents a brief summary of the state of the art in this field.     

Determination of the Porous Structure of Activated Carbons Using the IAE Concept. Influence of the Local Adsorption Model

In this paper we study a method for the determination of the micropore volume distribution function of activated carbons. This method is based on the Integral Adsorption Equation concept (IAE). The micropore volume distribution function is assumed to be a Gaussian of which the parameters are unknown. These parameters are determined using adsorption isotherms of carbon dioxide on a given activated carbon (F30/470 CHEMVIRON CARBON) at 278, 288, 298, 303, 308, 318 and 328 K and for pressures up to 100 kPa. Several local adsorption models are used (Langmuir, Volmer, Fowler-Guggenheim, Hill-de Boer). The influence of the choice of the local model on the pore volume distribution function is discussed. The physical validity of this function and the performances of the different models are presented. It appears that the effect of the temperature on the adsorption isotherms is difficult to model over a wide range of relative pressure. The Hill-de Boer and the Langmuir local models are the most efficient (average errors respectively equal to 3.53% and 2.80% in the studied range of temperature and pressure). They provide the most meaningful parameters for the pore volume distribution function.     

Adsorption of gases on layered silicates at high pressures

Equilibrium adsorption of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and argon was examined on the sodium and pyridinium forms of montmorillonite and on the hydrogen form of bentonite. The measurements were carried out at 303, 343, 373, and 400 K over pressure ranges of 0.1–90 MPa (Ar and N₂) and 0.1–6 MPa (CO₂). The amount of nitrogen vapor adsorbed was determined at 77 K and pressures from 0 to 0.1 MPa. The porous structure parameters of the studied samples were determined using adsorption isotherms of nitrogen, argon, and carbon dioxide vapors. At elevated temperatures and pressures >10 MPa, Ar and N₂ adsorption processes on the Na-form of montmorillonite and Ar adsorption on bentonite are activated, since the amounts of the gases adsorbed and adsorption volumes increase with temperature. No activated adsorption is observed for carbon dioxide adsorption on these adsorbents. A comparison of the excess adsorption isotherms of gases on the Py-form of montmorillonite and H-form of bentonite shows that adsorption in micropores predominates for the Py-form of montmorillonite, whereas for the Na-form of bentonite and H-form of bentonite adsorption occurs mainly in meso- and macropores.     

Appropriate volumes for adsorption isotherm studies: the absolute void volume, accessible pore volume and enclosing particle volume

In adsorption studies the choice of an appropriate void volume in the calculation of the adsorption isotherm is very crucial. It is often taken to be the apparent volume as determined by the helium expansion experiments. Unfortunately this method has difficulties especially when dealing with microporous solids, in which adsorption of helium might become significant at ambient temperatures. The amount adsorbed is traditionally obtained as the excess amount and the term "excess" refers to the excess over the amount occupying the apparent volume that has the same density as the bulk gas density. This could give rise to the maximum in the plot of excess amount versus pressure under supercritical conditions, and in some cases giving negative excess. Such behavior is difficult to analyze because the excess amount is not amenable to any classical thermodynamic treatments. In this paper we will present a method to determine the absolute void volume, and in that sense this volume is independent of temperature and adsorbate. The volume that is accessible to the centers of gas molecules is also investigated, and it is called the accessible volume. This volume depends on the choice of adsorbate, and it is appropriate to use this volume to calculate the pore density because we can assess how dense the adsorbed phase is. In the quest to determine the "absolute" adsorption isotherm so that a thermodynamics analysis can be applied, it is necessary to introduce the concept of "enclosing" volume, which is essentially the volume that encloses all solid particles, including all void spaces in them. The amount adsorbed is defined by the number of molecules residing in this volume. Having these volumes, we can derive the geometrical accessible void volume inside the particle and the solid volume, from which the particle and solid densities can be calculated.     

KOH活化木屑生物炭制备活性炭及其表征

以木屑热裂解的生物质炭为原料,氢氧化钾为活化剂,采用化学活化法制备活性炭,探讨了碱炭比、活化温度和活化时间对活性炭吸附亚甲基蓝吸附值的影响。 利用N2吸附实验、XRD和FTIR等实验技术,对原料与制备活性炭的结构与性能进行了表征。 结果表明,在碱炭质量比为1.5、活化温度750 ℃、活化时间2 h的条件下,所制备的活性炭对亚甲基蓝吸附值为255 mg/g,BET总比表面积为1514 m2/g,中孔比表面积为110 m2/g,吸附总孔容为0.821 cm3/g,中孔孔容为0.117 cm3/g,吸附平均孔径为2.170 nm。     

Modeling of phase equilibrium and vapor adsorption on carbon black based on a combination of a lattice theory and equation of state

A thermodynamic approach is developed in this paper to describe the behavior of a subcritical fluid in the neighborhood of vapor-liquid interface and close to a graphite surface. The fluid is modeled as a system of parallel molecular layers. The Helmholtz free energy of the fluid is expressed as the sum of the intrinsic Helmholtz free energies of separate layers and the potential energy of their mutual interactions calculated by the 10-4 potential. This Helmholtz free energy is described by an equation of state (such as the Bender or Peng-Robinson equation), which allows us a convenient means to obtain the intrinsic Helmholtz free energy of each molecular layer as a function of its two-dimensional density. All molecular layers of the bulk fluid are in mechanical equilibrium corresponding to the minimum of the total potential energy. In the case of adsorption the external potential exerted by the graphite layers is added to the free energy. The state of the interface zone between the liquid and the vapor phases or the state of the adsorbed phase is determined by the minimum of the grand potential. In the case of phase equilibrium the approach leads to the distribution of density and pressure over the transition zone. The interrelation between the collision diameter and the potential well depth was determined by the surface tension. It was shown that the distance between neighboring molecular layers substantially changes in the vapor-liquid transition zone and in the adsorbed phase with loading. The approach is considered in this paper for the case of adsorption of argon and nitrogen on carbon black. In both cases an excellent agreement with the experimental data was achieved without additional assumptions and fitting parameters, except for the fluid-solid potential well depth. The approach has far-reaching consequences and can be readily extended to the model of adsorption in slit pores of carbonaceous materials and to the analysis of multicomponent adsorption systems.     

甲烷在层状石墨烯和活性炭上的吸附平衡

以吸附式天然气（ANG）吸附剂的工程应用为目的,以0-10 MPa、283.15-303.15 K甲烷在层状石墨烯（GS（3D）,比表面积2062 m²/g）和活性炭SAC-01（比表面积1507 m²/g）上的吸附平衡数据作分析。首先,在77.15 K下由氮气吸附表征样品的孔径大小及分布（PSD）和比表面积。其次,选择极低压力下的吸附平衡数据标定亨利定律常数,确定甲烷在两吸附剂上的极限吸附热,并由维里方程和10-4-3势能函数计算甲烷与两吸附剂壁面之间的相互作用势。最后,依据测试的甲烷在吸附剂上的高压吸附平衡数据,比较了Langmuir系列方程的关联数据后的拟合精度,并由绝对吸附量计算了甲烷的等量吸附热。结果表明,甲烷在GS（3D）和活性炭SAC-01上的平均极限吸附热为23.07、20.67 kJ/mol;283.15 K下甲烷分子与GS（3D）和活性炭SAC-01之间的交互作用势ε_sf/k为67.19、64.23 K,与洛伦混合法则的计算值64.60 K相近;Toth方程关联甲烷在活性炭SAC-01和GS（3D）上吸附平衡数据的拟合累计相对误差为0.25%和2.29%;甲烷在活性炭SAC-01和GS（3D）上的等量吸附热平均值为16.8和18.3 kJ/mol。相对于活性炭SAC-01,比表面积和微孔容积均较高的GS（3D）对甲烷的吸附更具有优势。     

A revisit to the Gibbs dividing surfaces and helium adsorption

This paper addresses the long-standing problem of the so-called Gibbs dividing surface and the use of helium as a “non-adsorbing” gas for the determination of the “helium”-void volume and thence the Gibbs excess. Using helium is subject to some uncertainty because helium does adsorb (to call it a non-adsorbing gas is misleading) and it is able to access pore spaces that other larger adsorbates cannot. On the other hand, even helium atoms can not physically probe all the space described by the helium-void volume. To avoid these difficulties, we suggest an alternative to the formulation of the Gibbs dividing surface and the definition of the excess amount. We illustrate this with the two common tools to study adsorption—the volumetric and gravimetric techniques, and justify our new analysis with a computer simulation of a number of model adsorption systems. Furthermore, we also show that by using the correct accessible volume and inaccessible volume the excess amount obtained from a volumetric experiment is exactly the same as that obtained from a gravimetric experiment.     

Simultaneous oxygen,carbon, nitrogen,sulfur and silicon determination in coal by proton induced gamma-ray analysis

The technique of gamma-ray analysis of light elements (GRALE) is extended to measure the concentration of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur and silicon in coal samples. The composition of the sample is determined by analyzing the spectrum of gamma rays emitted following inelastic scattering of protons bombarding the target. A large volume lithium drifted germanium detector is used as a gamma-ray detector in this work. Coal samples are irradiated with 9.5 MeV protons in a helium atmosphere for 1000 sec. Results with standard coal samples indicate that the method has an accuracy of ∼5% of the concentration of each element and a precision of ∼4% for elements constituting at least 1% of the coal by weight.     

Morphological investigation of chemically treated poly(ethylene terephthalate)-based activated carbons

Complementary techniques, including low-temperature nitrogen adsorption and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), are applied to detect the effects of surface functionalization on the morphology of activated carbon derived from poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is also employed as an auxiliary method to visualize the surface below the micron scale. The SEM images reveal a micron-sized ridgelike texture. Room temperature acid treatment makes the ridges become more pronounced, while treatment with boiling acid uncovers fiberlike structures of roughly 1 microm diameter. All samples display an apparent surface fractal dimension of Ds = 2.4 in the wave vector range 0.001-0.02 A(-1). Nitric acid at room temperature increases the surface oxygen content only by 3 at. %, while all the adsorption properties and structural parameters reported in this paper are virtually unaffected. Significant differences in the morphology at submicron scales appear only after boiling acid treatment. The resulting carbon remains highly microporous, but the loss of Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area from about 1150 to 304 m2/g is approximately 75%. In addition to the principal peak at around 8 A, fresh peaks appear in the polydisperse Horvath-Kawazoe (HK) pore size distribution owing to the burnoff of intervening walls. The average width of the slitlike pores calculated from the Dubinin-Radushkevich (DR) plot increases from 8.4 to 11 A. The minimum slit width where the applied probe molecules, that is, nitrogen and hexane, can enter increases from about 5 to about 5.4 A. The separation distance of the basic structural units is practically unchanged. When, however, this carbon is in contact with hexane, this distance expands from about 19 to 27 A. The swelling is consistent with the deformable nature of this sample also illustrated by the low-pressure hysteresis and the reduced helium density. Particular attention was paid to the surface areas derived from low-temperature nitrogen adsorption and X-ray measurements. Owing to the wide spatial range of the structures in these samples, estimates of the specific surface area of activated carbons can be substantially in error unless both upper and lower q ranges of the SAXS spectra are taken into account. Surface areas derived from the adsorption data either by the BET or the DR approaches were always below the values obtained by standard SAXS. As an example, the carbon sample functionalized at room temperature gave surface area values of 1114, 1293, and 1970 m2/g, respectively. The possibility that this difference is caused by inaccessible pores was excluded by contrast variation measurements with hexane.     

Influence of analysis conditions on low pressure adsorption measurements and its consequences in characterization of energetic and structural heterogeneity of microporous carbons

Nitrogen adsorption isotherms on nonporous and microporous carbons were thoroughly studied at low relative pressures. For nonporous carbons low pressure measurements seem to be unaffected by analysis conditions. However, these measurements on microporous solids may be affected by analysis conditions at relative pressures below 10^–4. It was shown that selection of proper equilibration time is crucial for correct measurements of equilibrium pressures during adsorption on microporous carbons. The isotherm shift induced by insufficient equilibration of the system may affect the surface heterogeneity and microporosity analysis. A comparison of the adsorption energy and pore volume distribution functions calculated from low pressure nitrogen adsorption isotherms measured at different equilibration times on a microporous carbon shows that this effect is smaller than it was expected.     

Net,excess and absolute adsorption and adsorption of helium

The definitions of absolute, excess and net adsorption in microporous materials are used to identify the correct limits at zero and infinite pressure. Absolute adsorption is shown to be the fundamental thermodynamic property and methods to determine the solid density that includes the micropore volume are discussed. A simple means to define when it is necessary to distinguish between the three definitions at low pressure is presented. To highlight the practical implications of the analysis the case of adsorption of helium is considered in detail and a combination of experiments and molecular simulations is used to clarify how to interpret adsorption measurements for weakly adsorbed components.     

Preparation and characteristics of electrospun activated carbon materials having meso- and macropores

Mesoporous activated carbon samples were prepared from electrospun PAN-based carbon fibers using physical activation with silica. Textural characterization was performed using nitrogen adsorption at 77 K. The BET specific surface area and pore size distribution of silica activated carbon materials were investigated. According to the increment of silica, BET specific surface area was increased about thirty times and it was found that silica activated carbon materials were highly mesoporous by studying pore surface distribution and pore volume distribution. Surface morphology of silica activated carbon materials were observed by SEM images. The spherical typed carbon materials were investigated. The diameter of spherical typed carbon materials was increased in proportional of the increment of silica.     

Adsorption of nitrogen on granular activated carbon: experiment and modeling

A carbon adsorbent was produced and used to volumetrically measure nitrogen adsorption isotherms from 93 to 298 K and up to 7 MPa. The isosteric heat of adsorption was determined to range between -9.5 and -16 kJ/mol. The excess adsorption isotherms were modeled using an approach based on a modified Dubinin-Astakhov adsorption model, adapted for excess adsorption, which provided an accurate fit for all supercritical isotherms. An expression for the differential energy of adsorption as a function of pressure was developed using the Dubinin-Astakhov isotherm. The energy of adsorption for the isotherms measured was found to range from -8 to -15 kJ/mol as a function of pressure.     

Modeling high-pressure adsorption of gas mixtures on activated carbon and coal using a simplified local-density model

The simplified local-density (SLD) theory was investigated regarding its ability to provide accurate representations and predictions of high-pressure supercritical adsorption isotherms encountered in coalbed methane (CBM) recovery and CO2 sequestration. Attention was focused on the ability of the SLD theory to predict mixed-gas adsorption solely on the basis of information from pure gas isotherms using a modified Peng-Robinson (PR) equation of state (EOS). An extensive set of high-pressure adsorption measurements was used in this evaluation. These measurements included pure and binary mixture adsorption measurements for several gas compositions up to 14 MPa for Calgon F-400 activated carbon and three water-moistened coals. Also included were ternary measurements for the activated carbon and one coal. For the adsorption of methane, nitrogen, and CO2 on dry activated carbon, the SLD-PR can predict the component mixture adsorption within about 2.2 times the experimental uncertainty on average solely on the basis of pure-component adsorption isotherms. For the adsorption of methane, nitrogen, and CO2 on two of the three wet coals, the SLD-PR model can predict the component adsorption within the experimental uncertainties on average for all feed fractions (nominally molar compositions of 20/80, 40/60, 60/40, and 80/20) of the three binary gas mixture combinations, although predictions for some specific feed fractions are outside of their experimental uncertainties.     

Separation and permeation characteristics of a DD3R zeolite membrane

Permeation of various gases (carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, nitrogen, oxygen, argon, krypton, neon) and their equimolar mixtures through DD3R membranes have been investigated over a temperature range of 220–373 K and a feed pressure of 101–400 kPa. Helium was used as sweep gas at atmospheric pressure. Adsorption isotherms were determined in the temperature range 195–298 K, and modelled by a single and dual site Langmuir model. The permeation flux is determined by the size of the molecule relative to the window opening of DD3R, and its adsorption behaviour. As a function of temperature, bulky molecules (methane) show activated permeation, weakly adsorbing molecules decreasing permeation behaviour and strongly adsorbing molecules pass through a maximum. Counter diffusion of the sweep gas (helium) ranged from almost zero up to the order of the feed gas permeation and was strongly influenced by the adsorption of the feed gas.

DD3R membranes have excellent separation performance for carbon dioxide/methane mixtures (selectivity 100–3000), exhibit good selectivity for nitrogen/methane (20–45), carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide/air (20–400), and air/krypton (5–10) and only a modest selectivity for oxygen/nitrogen (2) separation. The selectivity of mixtures of a strongly and a weakly adsorbing component decreased with increasing temperature and pressure. The selectivity of mixtures of weakly adsorbing components was independent of pressure.

The permeation and separation characteristics of light gases through DD3R membranes can be explained by taking into account: (1) steric effects introduced by the window opening of DD3R leading to molecular sieving and activated transport, (2) competitive adsorption effects, as observed for mixtures involving strongly adsorbing gases, and (3) interaction between diffusing molecules in the cages of the zeolite.