For adsorption

An interesting question that arises is what happens when a thick adsorbed film (such as reported at for various liquids on glass [144] and for water on pyrolytic carbon [135]) is layered over with bulk liquid. That is, if the solid is immersed in the liquid adsorbate, is the same distinct and relatively thick interfacial film still present, forming some kind of discontinuity or interface with bulk liquid, or is there now a smooth gradation in properties from the surface to the bulk region This type of question seems not to have been studied, although the answer should be of importance in fluid flow problems and in formulating better models for adsorption phenomena from solution (see Section XI-1). 

As discussed in Chapter III, the progression in adsoiptivities along a homologous series can be understood in terms of a constant increment of work of adsorption with each additional CH2 group. This is seen in self-assembling monolayers discussed in Section XI-IB. The film pressure r may be calculated from the adsorption isotherm by means of Eq. XI-7 as modified for adsorption from dilute solution ... 

For adsorption on Spheron 6 from benzene-cyclohexane solutions, the plot of N N2/noAN2 versus N2 (cyclohexane being component 2) has a slope of 2.3 and an intercept of 0.4. (a) Calculate K. (b) Taking the area per molecule to be 40 A, calculate the specific surface area of the spheron 6. (c) Plot the isotherm of composition change. Note Assume that is in millimoles per gram. 

Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy. Several ESR studies have been reported for adsorption systems [85-90]. ESR signals are strong enough to allow the detection of quite small amounts of unpaired electrons, and the shape of the signal can, in the case of adsorbed transition metal ions, give an indication of the geometry of the adsorption site. Ref. 91 provides a contemporary example of the use of ESR and of electron spin echo modulation (ESEM) to locate the environment of Cu(II) relative to in a microporous aluminophosphate molecular sieve. 

The following several sections deal with various theories or models for adsorption. It turns out that not only is the adsorption isotherm the most convenient form in which to obtain and plot experimental data, but it is also the form in which theoretical treatments are most easily developed. One of the first demands of a theory for adsorption then, is that it give an experimentally correct adsorption isotherm. Later, it is shown that this test is insufficient and that a more sensitive test of the various models requires a consideration of how the energy and entropy of adsorption vary with the amount adsorbed. Nowadays, a further expectation is that the model not violate the molecular picture revealed by surface diffraction, microscopy, and spectroscopy data, see Chapter VIII and Section XVIII-2 Steele [8] discusses this picture with particular reference to physical adsorption. 

Fig. XVn-6. Schematic of gravimetric apparatus for adsorption measurements. (From Ref. 30. Reprinted with permission from American Chemical Society, copyright 1995.)...

This description is traditional, and some further comment is in order. The flat region of the type I isotherm has never been observed up to pressures approaching this type typically is observed in chemisorption, at pressures far below P. Types II and III approach the line asymptotically experimentally, such behavior is observed for adsorption on powdered samples, and the approach toward infinite film thickness is actually due to interparticle condensation [36] (see Section X-6B), although such behavior is expected even for adsorption on a flat surface if bulk liquid adsorbate wets the adsorbent. Types FV and V specifically refer to porous solids. There is a need to recognize at least the two additional isotherm types shown in Fig. XVII-8. These are two simple types possible for adsorption on a flat surface for the case where bulk liquid adsorbate rests on the adsorbent with a finite contact angle [37, 38]. 

A special case of adsorption in cavities is that of clatherate compounds. Here, cages are present, but without access windows, so for adsorption to occur the solid usually must be crystallized in the presence of the adsorbate. Thus quinol crystallizes in such a manner that holes several angstroms in diameter occur and, if crystallization takes place in the presence of solvent or gas... 

Adsorption isotherms in the micropore region may start off looking like one of the high BET c-value curves of Fig. XVII-10, but will then level off much like a Langmuir isotherm (Fig. XVII-3) as the pores fill and the surface area available for further adsorption greatly diminishes. The BET-type equation for adsorption limited to n layers (Eq. XVII-65) will sometimes fit this type of behavior. Currently, however, more use is made of the Dubinin-Raduschkevich or DR equation. Tliis is Eq. XVII-75, but now put in the form... 

Show that 5config = 0 for adsorption obeying the Dubinin equation (Eq. XVn-75). 

The nitrogen adsorption isotherm is determined for a finely divided, nonporous solid. It is found that at = 0.5, P/P is 0.05 at 77 K, gnd P/F is 0.2 at 90 K. Calculate the isosteric heat of adsorption, and AS and AC for adsorption at 77 K. Write the statement of the process to which your calculated quantities correspond. Explain whether the state of the adsorbed N2 appears to be more nearly gaslike or liquidlike. The normal boiling point of N2 is 77 K, and its heat of vaporization is 1.35 kcal/mol. 

This means that desorption activation energies can be much larger than those for adsorption and very dependent on 6 since the variation of Q with 6 now contributes directly. The rate of desorption may be written, following the kinetic treatment of the Langmuir model. 

There are B equivalent sites available for adsorption in the first layer. 

Each molecule adsorbed in the first layer is considered to be a possible adsorption site for molecules adsorbing into a second layer, and each molecule adsorbed in the second layer is considered to be a site for adsorption into the third layer, and so on. 

Fig. 4.4 Plot of the logarithm of the Langmuir quotient 0/p( - 0) against 0 for adsorption on H-chabasite at various temperatures." (a) Argon (h) carbon dioxide. (After Barrer and Davies.)...

Fig. 4.21 DR plots for the adsorption of benzene at 20°C and nitrogen at - 195°C on carbon AYF (continuous lines). The dashed lines are the DR plots corrected for adsorption in mesopores. (Courtesy Dubinin. )...

Fig. 8. UOP Parex simulated moving bed for adsorptive separation. AC = adsorbent chamber RV = rotary valve EC = extract column ...

Fig. 1. Fquilihrium isotherms for adsorption on activated carbon at 298 K showing the effect of surface modification (2). —, SO2 -...

Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Surfaces. Water is a small, highly polar molecular and it is therefore strongly adsorbed on a polar surface as a result of the large contribution from the electrostatic forces. Polar adsorbents such as most zeoHtes, siUca gel, or activated alumina therefore adsorb water more strongly than they adsorb organic species, and, as a result, such adsorbents are commonly called hydrophilic. In contrast, on a nonpolar surface where there is no electrostatic interaction water is held only very weakly and is easily displaced by organics. Such adsorbents, which are the only practical choice for adsorption of organics from aqueous solutions, are termed hydrophobic. 

Desiccants. A soHd desiccant is simply an adsorbent which has a high affinity and capacity for adsorption of moisture so that it can be used for selective adsorption of moisture from a gas (or Hquid) stream. The main requkements for an efficient desiccant are therefore a highly polar surface and a high specific area (small pores). The most widely used desiccants (qv) are siHca gel, activated alumina, and the aluminum rich zeoHtes (4A or 13X). The equiHbrium adsorption isotherms for moisture on these materials have characteristically different shapes (Fig. 3), making them suitable for different appHcations. 

For adsorption from the vapor phase, Kmay be very large (sometimes as high as 10 ) and then clearly the effective diffusivity is very much smaller than the pore diffusivity. Furthermore, the temperature dependence of K follows equation 2, giving the appearance of an activated diffusion process with... 

Fig. 12. (a) Development of the physically unreasonable overbanging concentration profile and the corresponding shock profile for adsorption with a favorable isotherm and (b) development of the dispersive (proportionate pattern) concentration profile for adsorption with an unfavorable isotherm (or for... 

Favorable and unfavorable equihbrium isotherms are normally defined, as in Figure 11, with respect to an increase in sorbate concentration. This is, of course, appropriate for an adsorption process, but if one is considering regeneration of a saturated column (desorption), the situation is reversed. An isotherm which is favorable for adsorption is unfavorable for desorption and vice versa. In most adsorption processes the adsorbent is selected to provide a favorable adsorption isotherm, so the adsorption step shows constant pattern behavior and proportionate pattern behavior is encountered in the desorption step. 

Detailed Modeling Results. The results of a series of detailed calculations for an ideal isothermal plug-flow Langmuir system are summarized in Figure 15. The soHd lines show the form of the theoretical breakthrough curves for adsorption and desorption, calculated from the following set of model equations and expressed in terms of the dimensionless variables T, and P ... 

Isotherm Models for Adsorption of Mixtures. Of the following models, all but the ideal adsorbed solution theory (lAST) and the related heterogeneous ideal adsorbed solution theory (HIAST) have been shown to contain some thermodynamic inconsistencies. References to the limited available Hterature data on the adsorption of gas mixtures on activated carbons and 2eohtes have been compiled, along with a brief summary of approximate percentage differences between data and theory for the various theoretical models (16). In the following the subscripts i and j refer to different adsorbates. 

Sweetening. Another significant purification appHcation area for adsorption is sweetening. Hydrogen sulfide, mercaptans, organic sulfides and disulfides, and COS need to be removed to prevent corrosion and catalyst poisoning. They ate to be found in H2, natural gas, deethanizer overhead, and biogas. Often adsorption is attractive because it dries the stream as it sweetens. 

The flow directions in a PSA process are fixed by the composition of the stream. The most common configuration is for adsorption to take place up-flow. AH gases with compositions rich in adsorbate are introduced into the adsorption inlet end, and so effluent streams from the inlet end are rich in adsorbate. Similarly, adsorbate-lean streams to be used for purging or repressurizing must flow into the product end. 

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