Gas drying using [EMIM][MeSO3] supported on silica gel in fixed-bed-study on process behavior, mass transport and modeling

Gas drying experiments in fixed-bed setup using a supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) material, here the ionic liquid (IL) [EMIM][MeSO3] coated on silica gel 150, revealed a high drying performance and dew points of less than -68 degrees C in the dried gas stream. For modeling, the linear driving force (LDF) approach was used. The mass transfer in pure silica gel and the coatings with (about) an IL monolayer can be described similarly to conventional adsorbents. For multilayers of IL, the behavior differs as the pores get filled with an IL/H2O mixture, reducing the volume fraction for transport in vapor/gas phase. Also, the composition of the supported liquid phase changes significantly. By fitting an equation that considers a linear decrease of the mass transport coefficient with increasing degree of total pore filling, kinetic parameters with high accuracy were gained. A scale-up simulation demonstrated that the favorable SILP material is able to dry about 80% more gas volume than a conventional drying agent, corroborating the high potential of this SILP system for gas drying.