Using near-infrared spectroscopy and differential adsorption bed method to study adsorption kinetics of orthoxylene on silica gel

Abstract

This paper has demonstrated the study on the adsorption kinetics of orthoxylene on silica gel with a novel experimental methodology. In the method, there was a differential adsorption bed (DAB) where the solid adsorbent always contacted with the same bulk concentration of the adsorbate vapor, and the DAB was monitored with near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (NIRDRS) continuously as well as non-invasively. Local partial least squares (PLS) algorithm was suggested to replace normal global PLS method in multivariate calibration models for processing NIRDRS data, because the concentration of the adsorbate on the adsorbent varied greatly as the adsorption process was going on. In this way, we, conveniently as well as promptly, obtained instantaneous adsorption rates of several orthoxylene/silica gel adsorption processes under different conditions like partial pressure of orthoxylene vapor and velocity of gas, and discovered that the adsorption process was physical adsorption, and mainly controlled by external diffusion.