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Mass transfer and adsorption in liquid full and trickle beds
Author(s) -
Seirafi Hassan A.,
Smith J. M.
Publication year - 1980
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.690260503
Subject(s) - trickle bed reactor , activated carbon , chemistry , adsorption , benzene , mass transfer , moment (physics) , mass transfer coefficient , trickle , flow (mathematics) , thermodynamics , analytical chemistry (journal) , chromatography , mechanics , organic chemistry , physics , catalysis , classical mechanics , political science , law
Experimental breakthrough curves were determined for a liquid full and a trickle bed reactor in which benzene was adsorbed from water on small activated carbon particles at 298°K and 1 atm. The step function of benzene was introduced into the water feed and the response measured in the liquid effluent. Benzene transfer also occurred from the liquid feed to the gaseous feed of pure helium. Moment analysis of data for liquid full conditions indicated that the first moment of the response curve could be used to obtain the adsorption equilibrium constant K for benzene on activated carbon. Comparison of results obtained by this new method with the K value determined from static equilibrium runs demonstrated the validity of the moment theory. Analysis of the response curves for trickle bed operation showed that the liquid‐to‐gas mass transfer coefficient ( ka ) L could be evaluated from either the zero or first moment. Results were obtained in both the trickling flow and pulse flow regimes. Values of ( ka ) L in the pulse flow regime, which were not heretofore available were sharply higher than those for trickle flow.