Argon, krypton and xenon adsorption coefficients on various activated carbons under dynamic conditions

Currently, a method based on the radioactive isotopes retention of argon, krypton and xenon on an adsorption column with activated carbon is widely used at nuclear power plants to purify air flows from radioactive noble gases. This makes it possible to reduce their volumetric activity in emissions to an acceptable level due to the natural radioactive decay of radionuclides. In this paper, the Henry constants are determined for the argon, krypton and xenon adsorption from the air stream on activated carbons of various grades under dynamic conditions in the temperature range from 15 to 60 degrees C. The linear dependence of the Henry constant logarithm on the inverse temperature is shown. It is established that the Henry constants calculated from the output curves of dynamic adsorption from the air stream may differ markedly from the calculation results based on the static (equilibrium) experiments data on the adsorption of pure adsorbents. This should be taken into account when designing NPP gas purification systems, as well as developing adsorption schemes for the separation and separation of noble radioactive gases from airflows.