Adsorption Equilibrium of Silica Gel, Active Carbon/ Water Vapour, Ethanol and Applicability of Combination of Those Adsorbent/Adsorbate to Adsorption Heat Pump

Abstract

The adsorption equilibria of water and ethanol vapour on three kinds of silica gels (SG) and active carbons (AC) with different pore size distributions were measured in the temperature region of 303 to 383K at reduced pressure of less than 0.1MPa. 1) The adsorption equilibrium curves of both adsorbates on SGs correspond to those expected from their pore size distributions. Those for SGs with mono-and di-modal micropores had the shape of one-and two-step increases respectively. The amount of ethanol adsorbed for super-AC is more than six times that for conventional ACs. 2) Heat of adsorption of water vapour on SGs is larger in the case of SG with smaller micropore. 3) Three combinations of adsorbent/adsorbate, i.e. SG and AC with malsler micropore/water vapour and super-AC/ethanol, can be applied to the adsorption heat pump.