Adsorption and Ion Exchange

Processes
NKB 30503
 Introduction
Adsorption: One or more components of a gas or liquid stream are
adsorbed on the surface of a solid adsorbent.
Commercial process: Adsorbent is usually in the form of small
particles in a fixed bed.
Applications: removal of organic compounds from water or organic
solutions, colored impurities from organics, various fermentation
products from fermentor effluent.
 Sorbents

Characteristics of sorbents:
High capacity to minimize amount of sorbent
Favorable kinetic and transport properties for rapid sorption
Chemical and thermal stability (low solubility in contacting fluid)
High mechanical strength to prevent crushing and erosion
High resistance to fouling
No tendency to promote undesirable chemical reactions
Capability to be regenerated
Low cost
 Equilibrium Consideration

Linear isotherm: q = Kc (K is constant determined experimentally,

m3/kg adsorbent.
Freundlich isotherm: q = Kcn (approximates data for many physical
adsorption).
qo c
Langmuir isotherm: q (qo is kg adsorbate/kg solid, K is kg/m3
K c
Kinetic and Transport Consideration
Separation by adsorption in a packed bed:
solute dispersed in a mobile fluid solvents are
transported by bulk flow.
Solute diffuse between the moving fluid
phase and a stationary fluid phase within
pores od the solid adsorbent.
Solute transport > External solute transport
from the bulk flow to the outer perimeter of
adsorbent particle >Internal solute transport
by diffusion > Surface diffusion along the
internal porous surface of the adsorbent
particle.
 Equipment for sorption operation

Adsorption

Ion exchange
Chromatography
Slurry Adsorption:
i) Batch Adsorption
Material balance: qF M cF S qM cS (cF= initial feed concentration, c =
final equilibrium concentration, qF = initial concentration of the solute adsorbed
on the solid, q = final equilibrium value, M = amount of adsorbent in kg, S =
Volume of feed solution in m3).
ii) Continuous mode
iii) Semicontinuous Mode
Continuous, countercurrent adsorption system.
F = feed
CF = solute consentration in feed
S = adsorbent
qF = solute loading in adsorbent
D = desorbent
CD = solute concentration in desorbent
 Kremser Method (when the equilibrium and operating line are
straight) :

Design of Fixed-Bed Adsorption Columns

Capacity of column and scale-up design method:

c
tt (1 )dt
0 Total shaded area (total or stoichiometric capacity of the bed)
co
c
tu t0b (1 )dt The usable capacity of the bed up to the break-point time, tb
co
tu
H B HT Length of the bed used up to the break point
tt
tu
H UNB (1 ) H t Length of unused bed
tt
H T H UNB H B Total length
Special case of adsorption: ION-EXCHANGE PROCESS

Chemical reactions between ions in solution and ions in an insoluble

solid phase.
Certain ions are removed by the ion-exchange solid.
Ex: Na+ + HR <->NaR + H+ (Na+ in the solid resin can be exchanged
with H+ or other cations)
[ NaR][ H ]
K
Ex: Law of mass action
[ Na ][ HR ]
K A, B K A / K B
cB q AR
K A, B
c A qBR
C c A cB ; Q q AR qBR Total concentration C in liquid and total concentration Q in the resin
Capacity of column and scale-up design

c
tt (1 )dt
0 Total shaded area (total or stoichiometric capacity of the bed)
co
c
tu (1 )dt
tb
0 The usable capacity of the bed up to the break-point time, tb
co
tu
HB HT Length of the bed used up to the break point
tt
tu
H UNB (1 ) H t Length of unused bed
tt
H T H UNB H B Total length