Adsorbents, vapor trapping

Pnrge sample with inert GC/PID gas adsorb vapor in trap heat trap backflnsh to GC... 

Loaded Adsorbents. Where highly efficient removal of a trace impurity is required it is sometimes effective to use an adsorbent preloaded with a reactant rather than rely on the forces of adsorption. Examples include the use of 2eohtes preloaded with bromine to trap traces of olefins as their more easily condensible bromides 2eohtes preloaded with iodine to trap mercury vapor, and activated carbon loaded with cupric chloride for removal of mercaptans. 

Adsorbent A medium that traps vapor or gaseous contaminants on its surface by chemical and physical properties. 

The second method used to reduce exliaust emissions incorporates postcombustion devices in the form of soot and/or ceramic catalytic converters. Some catalysts currently employ zeolite-based hydrocarbon-trapping materials acting as molecular sieves that can adsorb hydrocarbons at low temperatures and release them at high temperatures, when the catalyst operates with higher efficiency. Advances have been made in soot reduction through adoption of soot filters that chemically convert CO and unburned hydrocarbons into harmless CO, and water vapor, while trapping carbon particles in their ceramic honeycomb walls. Both soot filters and diesel catalysts remove more than 80 percent of carbon particulates from the exliatist, and reduce by more than 90 percent emissions of CO and hydrocarbons. 

The most common methods for trapping pesticide vapors from air use adsorbents. Common air sampling adsorbents include charcoal (derived from petroleum or coconut) and synthetic polymeric materials, such as cross-linked polystyrene and open-cell polyurethane foam. Charcoal has been used for the cumulative sampling of volatile... 

The trapping efficiency of polymeric, microporous adsorbents [e.g., polystyrene, polyurethane foam (PUF), Tenax] for compound vapors will be affected by compound vapor density (i. e., equilibrium vapor pressure). The free energy change required in the transition from the vapor state to the condensed state (e.g., on an adsorbent) is known as the adsorption potential (calories per mole), and this potential is proportional to the ratio of saturation to equilibrium vapor pressure. This means that changes in vapor density (equilibrium vapor pressure) for very volatile compounds, or for compounds that are gases under ambient conditions, can have a dramatic effect on the trapping efficiency for polymeric microporous adsorbents. 

Applications of activated carbons are discussed in Chapters 8-10, including their use in the automotive arena as evaporative loss emission traps (Chapter 8), and in vehicle natural gas storage tanks (Chapter 9). The use of evaporative loss emission traps has been federally mandated in the U.S. and Europe. Consequently, a significant effort has been expended to develop a carbon adsorbent properly optimized for evaporative loss control, and to design the on board vapor collection and disposal system. The manufacture of activated carbons, and their preferred characteristics for fuel emissions control are discussed in Chapter 8, along with the essential features of a vehicle evaporative loss emission control system. 

Kebbekus BB, Bozzelli JW. 1982. Determination of selected organic vapors in air by adsorbent trapping and capillary gas chromatography. J Environ Sci Health Part A Environ Sci Eng 17 713-724. 

AFM can be run in three different modes contact, noncontact, and tapping mode. When AFM is in the contact mode (similar to stylus profilometry), the most common problem encountered is that under ambient conditions, sample surfaces are covered by a layer of adsorbed gases consisting primarily of water vapor and nitrogen. In addition, a dielectric film can trap electrostatic charge, which can contribute to additional attractive forces between probe and sample. These problems may cause friction in probing, which will destroy the sample or distort the resulting data. 

Elemental composition Os 74.82%, 0 25.18%. The compound can be identified by its physical properties, such as, odor, color, density, melting-, and boiling points. Its acrid odor is perceptible at concentrations of 0.02 mg/hter in air. The oxide also produces an orange color when a small amount of the compound or its aqueous solution is mixed with an aqueous solution of ammonia in KOH (see Reactions). Aqueous solution of the tetroxide may be analyzed for osmium by AA or ICP spectrometry (see Osmium). Vapors of the tetroxide may be purged from an aqueous solution by helium, adsorbed over a trap, and desorbed thermally by helium onto a GC. Alternatively, a benzene or carbon tetrachloride solution may be injected onto the GC and the compound peak identified by mass spectrometry. The characteristic mass ions for its identification should be 190 and 254. 

An atom or molecule that approaches the surface of a solid always experiences a net attractive potential ). As a result there is a finite probability that it is trapped on the surface and the phenomenon that we call adsorption occurs. Under the usual environmental conditions (about one atmosphere and 300 K and in the presence of oxygen, nitrogen, water vapor and assorted hydrocarbons) all solid surfaces are covered with a monolayer of adsorbate and the build-up of multiple adsorbate layers is often detectable. The constant presence of the adsorbate layer influences all the chemical, mechanical and electronic surface properties. Adhesion, lubrication, the onset of chemical corrosion or photoconductivity are just a few of the many macroscopic surface processes that are controlled by the various properties of a monolayer of adsorbates. 

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers. Like PCBs, air samples containing PBDEs are usually collected by pumping air through a sampler containing a glass fiber filter and adsorbent trap to separate the particle bound and vapor phase fractions, respectively (Dobber et al 2000a Hillery et al 1997). The filters and adsorbants are then Soxhlet extracted with acetone/hexane, and the extracts are cleaned-up and analyzed by high resolution GC techniques. 

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