Abstract
A simulation model of batch-wise operation of adsorption separation on a packed column was developed, which includes constants of the adsorption isotherm (a and b in the Freundlich equation) and the adsorption rate constant (Kfa; overall mass-transfer coefficient) of the system. By numerical solution of the model equations and using the laboratory experimental data obtained with a short adsorption column, a method was found to predict the steady-state adsorption breakthrough curve of the practical operation.
To obtain the steady-state breakthrough curve on the short column, the exit concentration of adsorption component at the starting time of fluid flow in the column Cn (t=0) must be zero and the column must have a definite length. Under such conditions, the same adsorption breakthrough curve as the practical operation can be obtained from the experimental test of the short adsorption column.
If Cn≠0, the steady-state adsorption breakthrough curve cannot be obtained in the short column. In this case, however, the adsorption rate constant (Kfa) and the constants of the adsorption isotherm (a and b) of the system can be determined from the analysis of the same short column test data. Therefore, by using the simulation model equations with these data, the breakthrough curve in the practical operation can be easily and correctly predicted.
