Microwave Regeneration of Adsorbents at Low Pressure: Experimental Kinetics Studies

Abstract

Experimental studies were performed to demonstrate the feasibility of regenerating adsorbents by microwave irradiation to effect recovery of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Low pressure (sub-ambient) microwave desorption tests were conducted in a 2450 MHz multimode cavity for water, methyl ethyl ketone, toluene, and n-propyl acetate on molecular sieves 5A and 13X, UOP MHSZ, and Dowex Optipore adsorbents. The results show that the dielectrically enhanced mass transfer characteristics result in a system which follows a quasi-equilibrium process consistent with the manufacturer sorption equilibrium data; accordingly, desorption increases with temperature and decreasing system pressure and is not rate-limited by mass transfer resistances.