Isotopic equilibrium of hydrogen in sorption of water by synthetic zeolites, silica gel, and alumina gel

Published data on the isotopic equilibrium of hydrogen in sorption of water by synthetic zeolites, silica gel, and alumina gel are analyzed. It is shown that, contrary to the high separation coefficients (alpha) of hydrogen isotopes presented in literature, the values of alpha in sorption by all these sorbents are close to 1. This disagreement originated from the error in the method of evaluation of alpha in the previously published papers. The error in the evaluation of alpha from the experimental data was due to ignoring the effect of isotopic dilution in the system under study, caused by incomplete removal of water from the sorbent during its preliminary treatment.