Prediction of non-isothermal ternary gas-phase breakthrough experiments based on binary data

The results of breakthrough experiments in an adsorption column packed with commercial activated carbon for three binary CO₂/N₂ mixtures as well as for two ternary CO₂/N₂/H₂ mixtures are presented. The experiments were carried out at two different temperatures (25 and 45 °C), four different pressures (1, 5, 10 and 20 bar) and three different flow rates. To analyze the experiments, the breakthrough profiles are simulated using a one-dimensional model consisting of material and energy balances together with the necessary constitutive equations. Transport parameters such as the heat and mass transfer coefficients are fitted to the results from the experiments with the binary mixtures (CO₂/N₂) and then compared to parameters obtained in a previous work (Adsorption 18: 143–161, 2012) for binary CO₂/H₂ mixtures. Furthermore, the parameters obtained for binary mixtures are used to predict the outcome of breakthrough experiments with ternary CO₂/N₂/H₂ mixtures. These simulations are then tested by experiments, showing that their prediction capability is rather satisfactory for a large range of experimental conditions.