Simulation of gas-solid adsorption process considering particle-size distribution

The particle-size distribution of adsorbents usually plays an important role on the adsorption perfor-mance. In this study, population balance equation (PBE) is utilized in the simulation of an adsorption pro-cess to model the time-dependent adsorption amount distribution on adsorbent particles of a certain size distribution. Different adsorption kinetics model can be used to build the adsorption rate function in PBE according to specific adsorption processes. Two adsorption processes, including formaldehyde on acti-vated carbon and CO2/N2/CH4 mixture on 4A zeolite are simulated as case studies, and the effect of particle-size distribution of adsorbent is analyzed. The simulation results proved that the influence of particle-size distribution is significant. The proposed model can help consider the influence of particle-size distribution of adsorbents on adsorption processes to improve the prediction accuracy of the perfor-mance of adsorbents.(c) 2022 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.