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Tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM) studies of isobutane, n‐butane and propane sorption in β‐ and Y‐zeolites
Author(s) -
Gong Kening,
Subramaniam Bala,
Ramachandran Palghat A.,
Hutchenson Keith W.
Publication year - 2010
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.12063
Subject(s) - isobutane , propane , butane , sorption , chemistry , thermodynamics , chemical engineering , materials science , organic chemistry , adsorption , catalysis , engineering , physics
A TEOM is used to elucidate the adsorption/desorption characteristics of alkylation reactants on USY‐ and β‐zeolites. Equilibrium adsorption isotherms were obtained on USY‐ and β‐zeolites using n‐butane, isobutane and propane as proxy reactant molecules (T = 303–398 K, adsorbate partial pressure 0–1.2 bar). Analysis of the transient adsorption/desorption profiles of these molecules from either a bed of the zeolite or pelletized particles of the crystals (with mean size < 1 μm) demonstrate that diffusion in the secondary meso‐/macroporous structure formed in the packing or the pellets controls the overall sorption rates. The experimental adsorption/desorption profiles from the pelletized zeolites were regressed with available mathematical models to obtain effective meso‐/macropore diffusivities for reactant molecules, and nearly perfect fits of the experimental and the modeled profiles. Taking into account the dead volume in the system, a criterion for reliable measurements of either micropore or mesopore diffusivities by the TEOM technique is derived. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010