Fall 2016

Adsorber Handout
Introduction:
One way of separating a chemical species
from a mixture is to pass it through a
column containing a solid adsorbent phase
to which one species preferentially adheres.
Adsorption is used in air and water
purification, solvent recovery, CO2 capture
and isolation of products from mixtures.
In this experiment, you are passing a
mixture of helium and carbon dioxide
through a packed column containing
activated carbon particles.

Preparation before lab:

Research the following: why activated carbon is used inside the column and how temperature
affects adsorption. Look up the definitions of equilibrium adsorption isotherm and front velocity.

Equipment:
The column has a working length of 250mm. The carbon inside the column is Norit RB2
granular activated carbon.
Start-up Procedure
Turn on the water circulator and set the temperature to the desired value (see Procedure section
below). While waiting for the temperatures inside the column to stabilize, continue following
this start-up procedure.
Trace the tubing through the apparatus to get a feel for how the gases are traveling through the
system to the CO2 detector.
Make sure valves V1 and V2 are closed (fully clockwise), V5 is open, V6 is closed and the metal
pinch valve on the plastic tubing is open. Make sure V3 and V4 are in bypass mode (V3 and
V4 ).
Check that the regulator outlet pressure at the CO2 gas cylinder is 30 psi and He gas cylinder is
45 psi. Do not adjust them ask your TA if the pressures need adjustment.

Slowly open the yellow valves on the wall behind the apparatus (parallel to pipe = open).
Open the LoggerPro software on the laptop. Check that the LabPro interface is connected to the
computer and the 2 thermocouple probes and CO2 detector are connected to the interface. You
may need to make a minor adjust the setpoint on the water circulator to get Temperature 1 to the
desired value.
In the Experiment menu, click on Data Collection and set the duration to 240 minutes with a rate
of 10 samples/minute. Click on the horizontal and vertical scales on the graphs to adjust the
minimum and maximum values as needed, or click the icon with the graph and letter A to autoscale the graph.
Open V1 (Helium) to a flow rate of 4 SLPM. (There are 2 scales on the flowmeters, as well as
the pressure gauges. Use the center of the float to determine the flow rate.)
Start sending pure helium through the CO2 detector by manipulating both V6 and the pinch valve
to set the flow rate to approximately 0.2 to 0.5 SLPM.
Verify that the detector is reading less than 1% CO2 then send the helium gas through the
column. You may need to readjust all of the flow rates. If the column is completely desorbed,
the detector reading should be less than 1%. If it is not, wait for it to go there then start
collecting data by pushing the green arrow.
When ready, adjust valve V2 to flow the desired amount of CO2 through the column.
Continue to monitor all the flow rates to maintain the desired rate.
Procedure:
Adsorb and desorb CO2 at two column temperatures of 30 and 50C and two CO2 volume
percentages of 5% and 8%. Record the times when the CO2 gas is flowing or not flowing. Refer
to the Vernier website for the specifications of the detector.
Save your data as Excel files.
Measure the distance between the 2 thermocouples you were measuring with the LoggerPro
software.

Analysis:
Determine the equilibrium adsorption isotherms.

The thermocouple temperature-time data allow you to determine an adsorption front velocity.
Determine the temperature front velocities using your distance measurement described above in
the Procedure.
The CO2 detector data allows you to determine a breakthrough time, and offers another way to
calculate the adsorption front velocity. Compare this to the thermally derived values.
Discuss how well the experimental data is described by predictive models.
Include your temperature and detector profiles in your report.
See the reference information on Trunk for more analysis details.

Supplies List:
Adsorber apparatus
Laptop with software and interface
Helium & CO2 compressed gas cylinders
CO2 detector and bottle