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ADSORPTION
Presented to:
Dr. Sheema Riaz
Presented by:
Saba Gul
(2013-MS-CH-12)

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 OVERVIEW
• Understanding adsorption
• Difference between Adsorption and Absorption
• Classification of adsorption
• Mechanism of Adsorption
• Regeneration
• Factors affecting adsorption
• Common adsorbents and their applications
• MTZ and breakthrough
• Design calculation

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 ADSORPTION

• What is adsorption?
• Why we need to study adsorption?

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WHAT IS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ABSORPTION AND ADSORPTION?

Absorption

Adsorption

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 CLASSIFICATION OF ADSORPTION
Depending on the nature of attractive forces existing between the
adsorbate and adsorbent, adsorption can be classified as:
• Physisorption - Van der Waal’s force
• Chemisorption - Strong forces (Chemical bond)

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 SELECTION OF ADSORPTION PROCESS

• Ease of separation
• Solute concentration
• Process conditions
• Adsorbent criteria

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PROCESS DESCRIPTION

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 REGENERATION
• What is regeneration?

• Why regeneration is necessary?

• Thermal swing regeneration(TSA)

• Pressure swing regeneration(PSA)

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 COMPARISON OF TSA AND PSA
TSA PSA
• Hot and relatively inert gas is passed • Adsorption
• Cooling of the bed should follow • Depressurization(blow down)
regeneration • Purging
• When adsorbent and adsorbate are • Repressurization
not temperature sensitive • When adsorbent and adsorbate are
• Energy consumption is high temperature sensitive
• The solute is released as a dilute • Energy consumption is low
stream and is easy to recover • Recovery of solute is not needed
• We switch to PSA if solute is not easy
to recover

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 ADSORBENTS CRITERIA
• Selectivity(affinity , intraparticle diffusion rate , size)
• Adsorption capacity(affinity , specific surface area)
• Reversibility of adsorption
• Particle size
• Porosity and its pore size distribution
• Specific surface area
• Structural strength and stability
• Cost

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 FACTORS AFFECTING ADSORPTION
• Surface area
• Nature of adsorbate
• Molecular size
• Temperature
• Pressure

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 COMMON ADSORBENTS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS
Adsorbents Applications
Silica gel Drying of gases, refrigerants, organic
solvents, transformer oils, desiccant in
packings and double glazing, dew point
control of natural gas.
Activated Alumina Drying of gases, organic solvents,
transformer oils, removal of HCl from
hydrogen, removal of fluorine and boron-
fluorine compounds in alkylation processes.
Clays Treatment of edible oils, removal of organic
pigments, refining of mineral oils, removal of
polychlorobiphenyl (PCB).

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COMMON ADSORBENTS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS
Adsordents Applications
Carbons Nitrogen from air,hydrogen from syn-gas and
hydrogenation processes,ethene from
methane and hydrogen,vinyl chloride
monomer (VCM) from air,removal of odours
from gases,recovery of solvent
vapours,removal of SOx and Nox,purification
of helium,clean-up of nuclear off-
gases,decolourising of syrups, sugars and
molasses,water purification, including
removal of phenol, halogenated compounds,
pesticides.
Zeolites Oxygen from air;drying of gases,removing
water from azeotropes,sweetening sour
gases and liquids, purification of hydrogen,

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COMMON ADSORBENTS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS
Adsorbents Applications
Zeolites separation of ammonia and
hydrogen,recovery of carbon
dioxide,separation of oxygen and argon,
removal of acetylene, propane and butane
from air,separation of xylenes and ethyl
benzene,separation of normal from branched
paraffins,separation of olefins and aromatics
from paraffins.
Polymers and resins Water purification, including removal of
phenol,chlorophenols,ketones,alcohols,pesti
cides, antibiotics, detergents, emulsifiers,
wetting agents, kraftmill effluents
,dyestuffs,recovery and purification of
steroids

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 MASS TRANSFER ZONE AND BREAKTHROUGH CURVE

• Adsorption process in a packed bed

• Co = Concentration of solute in feed stream
• C = Concentration of solute at any axial position “z” in
bed
• qo = The solute concentration in the adsorbent at
equilibrium
• q = The solute concentration in the adsorbent
• x‘ = q/qo = Non-dimensional solute concentration in the bed

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MASS TRANSFER ZONE AND BREAKTHROUGH CURVE

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MASS TRANSFER ZONE AND BREAKTHROUGH CURVE

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 MTZ AND BREAKTHROUGH

• Breakthrough time, tb
• Breakthrough concentration, Cb
• Flow after occurrence of the breakthrough, t>tb
• Bed saturation
• Equilibrium time te

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 MTZ AND BREAKTHROUGH

• Mass transfer zone is inversly proportional to

mass transfer resistance
• If MT is faster then MTZ gets shorter
• Stoichiometric front
• Length of unused bed
• Stoichiometric time

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 DESIGN CALCULATIONS USING LUB
• Experimental adsorption data required
• Is bed concentration profile used?
• Effluent concentration vs time plot for breakthrough
• Parameters tb , ts and stoichiometric front from plot
• Ls = us tb and LUB = L- Ls
Length/height of column = L = Ls + LUB

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 DESIGN CALCULATIONS USING LUB
• Length/height of column = L = Ls + LUB
• Some same calculations as for packed bed
• Column diameter, d
• Pressure drop ∆P

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conclusion

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 REFERENCES
• Dutta BK."principles of mass transfer and separation
processes"New Dehli:PHI learning private limited;2009
• Coulson JM,Richardson JF."Chemical engineering"2nd Vol.5th
Ed.Bath:Bath press;2002
• McCabe WL,Smith JS,Herriot P."unit operation of chemical
engineering"7th Ed.McGraw Hill education:2005

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