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Water adsorption with hysteresis effect onto microporous activated carbon fabrics

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Abstract

Understanding the adsorption of water vapor onto activated carbons is important for designing processes to remove dilute contaminants from humid gas streams, such as providing protection against chemical warfare agents (CWAs), or against toxic industrial compounds (TICs) used in a terrorist chemical attack. Water vapor isotherms for Calgon BPL granular activated carbon (GAC), military ASZM-TEDA GAC, electrospun activated carbon nanofibers (ACnF), Calgon Zorflex™ activated carbon cloth, and Novoloid-based activated carbon fiber cloth (ACFC) are presented. Of particular interest are the ACFC isotherms, which exhibit an unusually high degree of hydrophobicity. The ACFC isotherms also show a correlation between water vapor adsorption hysteresis and the level of activation. Water vapor isotherm models from the literature are compared.

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Abbreviations

A :

Distribution constant for Mahle equation

a :

Amount adsorbed at a given p r

a c :

Constant for DS4 equation

a f :

Capacity of functional site part of Do & Do type equations

a I :

Capacity of type I term of Stoeckli formula, or capacity of Ising term in Extended CMMS equation

a L :

Capacity of Langmuir term of Extended CMMS formula

a m :

Capacity constant in Talu–Meunier equation

a o :

Pore capacity

a p :

Concentration of primary sites

a V :

Capacity of type V term in Stoeckli equation

a μ :

Capacity of microporous part of Do & Do type equations

B :

Distribution constant for Mahle equation

c :

Henry’s Law coefficient for DS equations

E o :

Reference energy

H :

Proportionality constant in Talu–Meunier equation

K :

Constant for Lagorsse equation

K a :

Langumuir-type constant for adsorption part of Lagorsse equation

K as :

Shape constant for CMMS equation

K d :

Langmuir-type constant for desorption part of Lagorsse equation

K f :

Langmuir-type constant for functional site part of Do & Do type equations

K μ :

Langmuir type constant for microporous part of Do & Do type equations

k :

Constant for QHR equation

k o :

Langmuir-type constant for CMMS equations

k 1 :

Constant for CMMS equations

k L :

Langmuir constant

k t :

Constant in Talu–Meunier equation

N :

Number of terms to sum

n :

Dubinin–Astakhov exponent

n I ,n V :

Stoeckli exponents

p 50 :

Relative pressure at 50% of a o adsorbed

p r :

Relative pressure of water (relative humidity)

R g :

Universal gas constant

T :

Temperature

β :

Energy coefficient of an adsorbate–adsorbent system (β E o =E, the affinity energy of the system)

β I ,β V :

Energy coefficient of each term in the Stoeckli formula

κ :

Fitting parameter for Dubinin–Serpinsky type equations

ξ i :

Fitting parameters for LeVan equation

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Airbase Technologies Division, Air Force Research Laboratory, 139 Barnes Dr Ste 2, Tyndall AFB, FL, 32403, USA

    Patrick D. Sullivan & Brenton R. Stone

  2. Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Zaher Hashisho & Mark J. Rood

Authors
  1. Patrick D. Sullivan
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  2. Brenton R. Stone
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  3. Zaher Hashisho
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  4. Mark J. Rood
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Correspondence to Patrick D. Sullivan.

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Sullivan, P.D., Stone, B.R., Hashisho, Z. et al. Water adsorption with hysteresis effect onto microporous activated carbon fabrics. Adsorption 13, 173–189 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10450-007-9033-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10450-007-9033-5

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