Practice problems in ADSORPTION and ION EXCHANGE

1. Equilibrium isotherm data for adsorption of glucose from an aqueous solution to activated
alumina are as follows:

c (g / cm3) 0.0040 0.0087 0.019 0.027 0.094 0.195

q (g solute / g alumina) 0.026 0.053 0.075 0.082 0.123 0.129

Determine the isotherm that fits the data and give the constants of the equation using the
given units.

2. A wastewater solution having a volume of 2.5 m3 contains 0.25 kg phenol / m3 of solution.

This solution is mixed thoroughly in a batch process with 3.0 kg of granular activated carbon
until equilibrium is reached. The isotherm data is as follows:

c q
(kg phenol / m3 solution) (kg phenol / kg carbon)
0.322 0.150
0.117 0.122
0.039 0.094
0.0061 0.059
0.0011 0.045

Calculate the final equilibrium values and the percent phenol extracted.

3. In class Example 2 (slide 11) looked at the adsorption of alcohol vapour from air in a bed of
activated carbon particles. The break-point time for a new column is to be 8.5 h. Use the
break-point time and other results from the example to calculate the new total length of the
column required, column diameter, and the fraction of total capacity used up to the break
point, for the following two cases:

a) The flow rate remains constant at 754 cm3/s.

b) The flow rate is increased to 2000 cm3/s.

CHG 3111 Winter 2017

Note: The solution procedures for adsorption can be used to solve the following problems
in ion-exchange separation.

4. An ion-exchange column containing 99.3 g of amberlite ion-exchange resin was used to

remove Cu2+ from a solution where c0 = 0.18 M CuSO4. The column height is 30.5 cm and
the diameter is 2.59 cm. The flowrate was 1.37 cm3 solution / s to the column. The
breakthrough data are as follows:

t (s) 420 480 510 540 600 660

c 0 0.0033 0.0075 0.0157 0.0527 0.1063
(mol Cu / L)
t (s) 720 780 810 870 900
C 0.1433 0.1634 0.1722 0.1763 0.18
(mol Cu / L)

The concentration desired at the break point is c/c0 = 0.010.

Determine the break-point time, fraction of total capacity used up to the break point, length
of unused bed, and the saturation loading capacity of the solid.

5. Tutorial problem #1 April 5

In a given run using a flow rate of 0.2 m3/h in an ion-exchange tower with a column height of
0.40 m, the break point occurred at 8.0 min. The ratio of usable capacity to total equilibrium
capacity is 0.65. What is the height of a similar column operating for 13.0 min to the break
point at the same flow rate?

CHG 3111 Winter 2017