Two-Dimensional
Modeling of Volatile Organic Compounds
Adsorption onto Beaded Activated Carbon
- Publication date
- Publisher
Abstract
A two-dimensional heterogeneous computational
fluid dynamics model
was developed and validated to study the mass, heat, and momentum
transport in a fixed-bed cylindrical adsorber during the adsorption
of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from a gas stream onto a fixed
bed of beaded activated carbon (BAC). Experimental validation tests
revealed that the model predicted the breakthrough curves for the
studied VOCs (acetone, benzene, toluene, and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene)
as well as the pressure drop and temperature during benzene adsorption
with a mean relative absolute error of 2.6, 11.8, and 0.8%, respectively.
Effects of varying adsorption process variables such as carrier gas
temperature, superficial velocity, VOC loading, particle size, and
channelling were investigated. The results obtained from this study
are encouraging because they show that the model was able to accurately
simulate the transport processes in an adsorber and can potentially
be used for enhancing absorber design and operation