Multicomponent sorption of hexane isomers in zeolite BETA

Breakthrough curves of single, binary, ternary, and quaternary mixtures of hexane (C 6 ) isomers n ‐hexane ( n HEX), 3‐methylpentane (3MP), 2,3‐dimethylbutane (23DMB), and 2,2‐dimethylbutane (22DMB) were performed in commercial pellets of zeolite BETA (BEA structure), covering the temperature range between 423 and 523 K and partial pressures up to 30 kPa. From these data, single and multicomponent adsorption equilibrium isotherms were collected. A tri‐site Langmuir model (TSL) was developed to interpret the equilibrium data based on considerations about zeolite structure, and a dynamic adsorption model was tested predicting with a good accuracy the behavior of multicomponent fixed‐bed experiments. At the partial pressures studied, the sorption hierarchy in the zeolite BETA is n HEX >>> 3MP > 23DMB >> 22DMB. BEA structure demonstrates a significant selectivity between C 6 isomers, especially at low coverage, giving a good perspective regarding their separation by adsorption processes. © 2007 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2007