Kinetics of sulphur dioxide sorption by single pellets of activated carbon

Abstract

As an example for separation processes that involve physical adsorption and catalytic conversion a mathematical model for the sorption of sulphur dioxide by activated carbon is proposed. This takes into account the film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion of the reactants, the surface adsorption, the catalytic surface reaction and the deactivation of the catalyst by non-desorbed reaction products. The parameters included in the model to describe transfer processes and reaction kinetics are evaluated by comparing the numerical results of computer simulation with experimental data. The evaluation of the dimensionless groups describing heat and mass transfer resistances and characteristic diffusion and reaction time reveals that the model can be simplified in order the reduce computation time. The results of the single-pellet experiments are combined with the conservation equation of fixed-bed reactors, thus yielding the breakthrough curve.