Adsorption Basics: Part 2
Back to Basics Adsorption Basics: Part 2 Alan Gabelman, P.E. This article focuses on adsorbents, including Gabelman Process Solutions, LLC activated carbon, zeolite molecular sieves, and polymeric adsorbents, as well as ion exchange resins. dsorption is a unit operation that exploits the attrac- batch mix tank, because the high pressure drop precludes its tion of solutes in a liquid or gas to a solid surface. use in a column. Spent powdered carbon must be removed AThis attraction allows the solutes to be removed, or by filtration, and regeneration is not practical. solutes with different affinities for the solid to be separated. Activated carbon is a highly versatile adsorbent, because The first article (1) of this two-part series presented the its performance characteristics can be tailored by varying fundamentals of adsorption, including equilibrium and mass- the precursor, roasting conditions, and activation method. transfer considerations, the mass-transfer zone concept, Consequently, products are available for a wide range of breakthrough, regeneration, and column sizing. This article, applications, for treating both gases and liquids. Liquid Part 2, covers the most widely used adsorbents — in order of applications include potable water treatment (discussed decreasing commercial importance (2, 3): activated carbon, later), groundwater remediation, industrial and municipal zeolite molecular sieves, silica gel, activated alumina, and wastewater treatment, sweetener decolorization, and chemi- polymeric adsorbents — with discussion of their physi- cal and pharmaceutical processing. Examples of gas appli- cal characteristics, suitable applications, and regeneration cations are removal of organics from waste gas, capture of requirements. Ion exchange, a process that is similar gasoline vapor emissions from automobiles, and adsorption to adsorption and is used to remove ions from solution, is of gaseous radionuclides from nuclear power plants.
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