Elution and frontal dynamics of adsorption of organic substances on activated carbon

The elution dynamics of adsorption on activated carbon was studied at various carrier-gas flow rates for a series of organic substances. With the help of the model of the equilibrium adsorption layer that uses the adsorption isotherm described by the theory of volume filling of micropores the outlet curves for the elution and frontal dynamics of adsorption can be adequately predicted. The effective kinetic coefficient and the parameters of the adsorption isotherm were found to be constant for the elution curves calculated both in the elution and frontal regimes of the adsorption dynamics over the whole range of concentrations studied. The effective kinetic coefficient in the mathematical model employed for the systems with microporous adsorbents is independent in fact of the nature of an adsorptive and is mainly determined by the parameters of porous structure of activated carbon and the experimental conditions of a dynamic run.