Adsorption dynamics of toluene in a packed bed charged with the polymeric adsorbent

Experimental and theoretical studies were made on the adsorption of toluene by polymeric adsorbent in an isothermal condition of 298K. A mathematical model was developed to simulate the column dynamics of a pure adsorption system. To represent the mass-transfer rate inside the adsorbent particle, the linear driving-force approximation model was applied. By optimizing the breakthrough curve data with a dynamic model, an empirical correlation was proposed to represent the overall mass-transfer rate for the toluene-polymeric adsorbent system. The result with this correlation, which is a function of the partial pressures for adsorbate and interstitial bulk fluid velocities, showed that the prediction agreed well with the experimental data of breakthrough curves.