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Molecular transport in nanopores with broad pore‐size distribution
Author(s) -
Wang Fu Yang,
Zhu Zhong Hua,
Rudolph Victor
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.11520
Subject(s) - molecular dynamics , porous medium , statistical physics , transport phenomena , nanopore , computer science , nanotechnology , chemistry , materials science , physics , computational chemistry , porosity , mechanics , organic chemistry
A methodology is developed for molecular transport in nanopores, based on physical attributes requiring neither molecular dynamics simulations nor empirical correlations. The proposed approach is reasonably rigorous yet easy to apply. The models extend the conventional theoretical framework1–3 by eliminating key restrictive assumptions, such as uniform pore‐size and hard‐sphere molecules using several new mathematical treatments and the multisite potential equation,4, 5 making them more applicable to practical porous media. Importantly, one of the models reported using integral mean value theory develops an equation with the same format as a widely used formula with two empirical parameters, providing new physical insights into the utility of this model. Literature data for carbon tetrachloride and benzene transport in a commercial Ajax activated carbon are used as two case studies to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methodology to practical systems, with good agreement between simulations and measurement data. © 2008 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2008