Comparison of vapor adsorption characteristics of acetone and toluene based on polarity in activated carbon fixed-bed reactor

Abstract

Adsorption characteristics according to polarity of acetone and toluene vapors on coconut based activated carbon were investigated by using a fixed bed reactor. Single vapor and binary vapor adsorption of acetone and toluene were conducted. In the single vapor system, the equilibrium adsorption capacity of toluene vapor on activated carbon was five times higher than that of acetone vapor because of polarity difference between adsorbent and adsorbate. The breakthrough curve of acetone vapor in the binary vapor was quite different from that of single acetone vapor. Acetone adsorbed in the binary vapor was substituted with toluene due to the affinity difference during adsorption process and its outlet concentration increased to 1.6 times than inlet concentration. The temperature changes in activated carbon bed during adsorption of acetone vapor and toluene vapor occurred in the time ranges of 10–30 min. The temperature change for acetone vapor adsorption was about 3 °C; however, that for toluene vapor adsorption was increased to 33 °C maximally.