A mechanistic modeling framework for gas‐phase adsorption kinetics and fixed‐bed transport

Abstract

Adsorption is a complex physicochemical process involving interparticle transport, interphase mass‐transfer, intraparticle diffusion, and surface reactions. Although the exact description of the adsorption process will inevitably vary from system to system, it will always be governed by those primary mechanisms. Therefore, by devising a model framework that can inherently include those mechanisms, it would be possible to create a modeling platform on which many different adsorption problems could be solved numerically. To accomplish this task, a generalized 1‐D conservation law model was created to include the necessary mechanisms of adsorption on several different geometrical domains. Specific model applications for adsorption were developed under that framework and validated using experimental data available in literature or obtained in this work. This modeling platform makes it easier to model various adsorption problems and develop new adsorption models because of the common treatment of the mathematics governing the physical processes. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2017