Recovery of Acetone Vapor by a Thermal Swing Adsorber with Activated Carbon

Abstract

An experimental and theoretical study was made of the adsorption and desorption of acetone vapor from a nitrogen stream using a fixed bed of activated carbon. A linear driving force mass transfer model was found to provide a good fit to the experimental data. The system was found to be an intraparticle mass transfer-controlled process. The regeneration of activated carbon loaded with acetone was investigated by employing a temperature-programmed process for minimum energy consumption and volume of hot purge gas requirement. The energy requirement could be economically met by regenerating an adsorber at the characteristic temperature for optimal holding time followed by an appropriate rate of decreasing the temperature of purge gas. It was found that an adsorbed bed initially heated at a higher temperature can lead to a smaller purge gas requirement.