Multicomponent Vapor Sorption on Active Carbon by Combined Microgravimetry and Dynamic Sampling Mass Spectrometry A. J. Fletcher, ² M. J. Benham, ‡ and K. M. Thomas* ,² Northern Carbon Research Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, Bedson Building, UniVersity of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom, and Hiden Analytical Ltd., 420 Europa BouleVard, Warrington, WA5 5UN, United Kingdom ReceiVed: December 20, 2001; In Final Form: March 25, 2002 Combined gravimetric and dynamic sampling mass spectrometry methods have been developed for the direct measurement of multicomponent vapor sorption on microporous materials. This method combines the gravimetric method for determination of the kinetics and equilibria of total adsorption, and mass spectrometry for the analysis of each adsorbate component during temperature programmed desorption. Mass spectrometry was also used for the determination of the adsorptive gas-phase concentrations during adsorption. Results are presented for adsorption of water/n-octane and water/n-butane on active carbon BAX950 using helium as the carrier gas. Marked differences were observed in the amount of water vapor adsorbed in the presence of n-butane compared with static water vapor and water vapor in helium. The dynamics of adsorption and desorption resulting from competitive adsorption have been investigated. The kinetics are compared with data for single component adsorption of static vapors and flowing vapors in helium. The results are discussed in terms of the diffusion processes and adsorption mechanism. Introduction Emissions of environmentally unfriendly species into the atmosphere are a major environmental problem and abatement methods are required to minimize these emissions. High concentrations of these species can be removed by various treatment techniques such as condensation and so forth but these methods cannot be used with very low concentrations, which are found in the final cleanup stage. 1 Activated carbons are widely used for the removal of very low (ppm) concentrations of environmentally unfriendly volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from process and air streams. 2 The adsorption process concentrates the pollutant and this may be recovered by desorption and, either recycled back to the process, or destroyed by combustion. In real situations, target species are adsorbed from complex mixtures of gases and vapors, and inevitably, competitive adsorption is involved. Competitive adsorption is also a factor in gas separation processes using pressure swing adsorption. However, very few experimental studies have been carried out and, as a result, there is very little information available on competitive adsorption. In the case of adsorption of VOC species from ambient air, there is competitive adsorption of a pollutant with nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor. The presence of water vapor is a very specific major problem, which varies with weather conditions and can produce degradation in the breakthrough times of other species. 3,4 Therefore, the performance of carbon adsorbent beds, for removing species from air for personal protection filters, and the abatement of emissions from process streams is inevitably influenced by multicomponent adsorption. The primary activated carbon adsorption sites for organic species are hydrophobic sites, comprising mainly of graphene basal plane layers, and hydrophilic functional groups, where polar species, such as water, are adsorbed initially. 5-9 Clusters of water molecules develop around the functional groups with increasing relative pressure. 5 These isolated clusters of water molecules are potential barriers to diffusion of organic species. 6 At higher relative pressures either bridging occurs between these clusters or a continuous surface film is formed depending on the surface functional group distribution. 5 Pore volume filling occurs at high relative pressure but the density of the adsorbed water is usually lower than that of the liquid. 6-9 This has been ascribed to the inability of adsorbed water to form a full three- dimensional structure in microporosity. 6-9 Competitive adsorption is difficult to study because of problems associated with quantifying the uptakes and adsorption dynamics of the various adsorbed species in multicomponent adsorption systems. The amounts adsorbed may be calculated indirectly from a complete set of adsorption isotherms for the total adsorption of the multicomponent system, using various models based on thermodynamic principles, or determined by direct measurement of the amounts of each component ad- sorbed. 10 In the case of the latter, there is only limited experimental information available in the literature. 11-16 Ad- sorption equilibrium theories for multicomponent systems have been developed based on extended Langmuir, 17 ideal adsorption solution, 18-23 and real adsorption solution 23-26 theories, but their predictive value is limited because it is not possible to select a priori the most suitable model without extensive experimental measurements to validate the model for the particular system of interest. 10 The experimental data required to establish and validate the model are extensive and time-consuming to obtain. Single component isotherms can be measured by both volumetric and gravimetric methods for pure gases and vapors with the latter providing a direct measurement of the amount adsorbed. 27 Gravimetric studies of the adsorption of gases and vapors in a flow of helium have also been used. 28 Volumetric, * To whom all correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mark.thomas@ncl.ac.k. ² University of Newcastle upon Tyne. ‡ Hiden Analytical Ltd. 7474 J. Phys. Chem. B 2002, 106, 7474-7482 10.1021/jp014625a CCC: $22.00 © 2002 American Chemical Society Published on Web 07/09/2002