Abstract
The present study analyses the preparation of activated carbon fibres (ACFs) by the so-called “physical” activation method with steam or carbon dioxide and their application for benzene and toluene adsorption at low concentration (200 ppmv). ACFs have been scarcely studied for the adsorption of these pollutants at low concentration in gaseous phase, despite their interesting features regarding adsorption kinetics, bed pressure drop, possibility of conformation and others. Our results have shown that the preparation method used is suitable to produce ACFs with high adsorption capacities for benzene and toluene at the low concentration used. The fibre morphology of the ACFs does not enhance their performance, which results to be similar to other non-fibrous activated carbons such as granular, pellets and powders. Such good performance of the ACFs, leading to benzene and toluene adsorption capacities as large as 31 g benzene/100 g ACF or 53 g toluene/100 g ACF, can be explained due to their large volume of narrow micropores (<0.7 nm) developed upon activation and their low content in surface oxygen groups. Our results have also shown very good agreement between the adsorption results derived from dynamic adsorption experiments and from adsorption isotherms. As the relative pressure of the organic compound increases the corresponding fraction of narrow micropore volumes filled by benzene and toluene increases. For a given low and comparable relative pressure, toluene always occupies a larger fraction of narrow micropores than benzene.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Alcañiz-Monge, J., Cazorla-Amorós, D., Linares-Solano, A., Yoshida, S., Oya, A.: Effect of the activating gas on tensile strength and pore structure of pitch-based carbon fibres. Carbon 32, 1277–1283 (1994)
Alcañiz-Monge, J., Cazorla-Amorós, D., Linares-Solano, A., Yoshida, S., Oya, A.: Production of activated carbons: Use of CO2 versus H2O as activating agent. A reply to a letter from P.L. Walker, Jr. Carbon 35, 1665–1668 (1997)
Benkhedda, J., Jaubert, J.N., Barth, D., Perrin, L.: Experimental and modeled results describing the adsorption of toluene onto activated carbons. J. Chem. Eng. Data 45, 650–653 (2000)
Boehm, H.P.: Some aspects of the surface chemistry of carbon blacks and other carbons. Carbon 32, 759–769 (1994)
Boehm, H.P.: Surface oxides on carbon and their analysis: a critical assessment. Carbon 40, 145–149 (2002)
Bouhamra, W.S., Baker, C.G.J., Elkilani, A.S., Alkandari, A.A., Al-Mansour, A.A.A.: Adsorption of toluene and 1,1,1-trichloroethane on selected adsorbents under a range of ambient conditions. Adsorption 15, 461–475 (2009)
Cal, M.P., Larson, S.M., Rood, M.J.: Experimental and modeled results describing the adsorption of acetone and benzene onto activated carbon fibers: comparison of experimental and modeled isotherms. Environ. Prog. 13, 26–30 (1994)
Cal, M.P., Rood, M.J., Larson, S.M.: Removal of VOCs from humidified gas streams using activated carbon cloth. Gas Sep. Purif. 10, 117–121 (1996)
Cal, M.P., Rood, M.J., Larson, S.M.: Gas phase adsorption of volatile organic compounds and water vapor on activated carbon cloth. Energy Fuels 11, 311–315 (1997)
Cazorla-Amorós, D., Alcañiz-Monje, J., Linares-Solano, A.: Characterization of activated carbon fibers by CO2 adsorption. Langmuir 12, 2820–2824 (1996)
Cazorla-Amorós, D., Alcañiz-Monje, J., de la Casa-Lillo, M.A., Linares-Solano, A.: CO2 as an adsorptive to characterize carbon molecular sieves and activated carbons. Langmuir 14, 4589–4596 (1998)
Chiang, H.L., Huang, C.P., Chiang, P.C., You, J.H.: Effect of metal additives on the physico-chemical characteristics of activated carbon exemplified by benzene and acetic acid adsorption. Carbon 37, 1919–1928 (1999)
Chiang, Y.C., Chiang, P.C., Chang, E.E.: Effects of surface characteristics of activated carbons on VOC adsorption. J. Environ. Eng. 127, 54–62 (2001)
Chiang, Y.C., Chiang, P.C., Huang, C.P.: Effects of pore structure and temperature on VOC adsorption on activated carbon. Carbon 39, 523–534 (2001b)
Chiang, Y.C., Chiang, P.C., Huang, C.P.: Ozonation of activated carbon and its effects on the adsorption of VOCs exemplified by methylethylketone and benzene. Chemosphere 47, 267–275 (2002)
Das, D., Gaur, V., Verma, N.: Removal of volatile organic compound by activated carbon fiber. Carbon 42, 2949–2962 (2004)
Dimotakis, E.D., Cal, M.P., Economy, J., Rood, M.J., Larson, S.M.: Chemically treated activated carbon cloths for removal of volatile organic carbons from gas streams: evidence for enhanced physical adsorption. Environ. Sci. Technol. 29, 1876–1880 (1999)
Do, D.D.: Adsorption Analysis: Equilibria and Kinetics. Imperial College Press, London (1998)
Foster, K.L., Fuerman, R.G., Economy, J., Larson, S.M., Rood, M.J.: Adsorption characteristics of trace volatile organic compounds in gas streams onto activated carbon fibers. Chem. Mater. 4, 1068–1073 (1992)
Huang, Z.H., Kang, F., Zheng, Y.P., Yang, J.B., Liang, K.M.: Adsorption characteristics of trace volatile organic compounds on activated carbon fibers at room temperature. Adsorp. Sci. Technol. 20, 495–500 (2002)
Huang, Z.H., Kang, F., Liang, K.M., Hao, J.: Breakthrough of methylethilketone and benzene vapors in activated carbon fiber beds. J. Hazard. Mater. B 98, 107–115 (2003)
Lillo-Ródenas, M.A., Cazorla-Amorós, D., Linares-Solano, A.: Behaviour of activated carbons with different pore size distributions and surface oxygen groups for benzene and toluene adsorption at low concentrations. Carbon 43, 1758–1767 (2005)
Linares-Solano, A., Salinas Martínez de Lecea, C., Alcañiz Monge, J., Cazorla-Amorós, D.: Further advances in characterization of microporous carbons by physical adsorption of gases. Tanso 185, 316–325 (1998)
Maciá-Agulló, J.A., Moore, B.C., Cazorla-Amorós, D., Linares-Solano, A.: Activation of coal tar pitch carbon fibres: physical activation vs. chemical activation. Carbon 42, 1367–1370 (2004)
Marbán, G., Valdés-Solís, T., Fuertes, A.B.: Modeling the breakthrough behavior of an activated carbon fiber monolith in n-butane adsorption from diluted streams. Chem. Eng. Sci. 61, 4762–4772 (2006)
Noll, K.E., Wang, D., Shen, T.: Comparison of three methods to predict adsorption isotherms for organic vapors from similar polarity and nonsimilar polarity reference vapors. Carbon 27, 239–245 (1989)
Rodríguez-Reinoso, F., Linares-Solano, A.: Microporous structure of activated carbons as revealed by adsorption methods. Chem. Phys. Carbon 21, 2–146 (1988)
Román-Martínez, M.C., Cazorla-Amorós, D., Linares-Solano, A., Salinas-Martínez de Lecea, C., Yamashita, H., Anpo, M.: TPD and TPR characterization of carbonaceous supports and Pt/C catalysts. Carbon 31, 895–902 (1993)
Román-Martínez, M.C., Cazorla-Amorós, D., Linares-Solano, A., Salinas-Martínez de Lecea, C., Yamashita, H., Anpo, M.: Metal-support interaction in Pt/C catalysts. Influence of the support surface chemistry and the metal precursor. Carbon 33, 3–13 (1995)
Ryu, Y.K., Lee, H.J., Yoo, H.K., Lee, C.H.: Adsorption equilibra of toluene and gasoline vapors on activated carbon. J. Chem. Eng. Data 47, 1222–1225 (2002)
Shin, H.C., Park, J.W., Park, K., Song, H.C.: Removal characteristics of trace compounds of landfill gas by activated carbon adsorption. Environ. Pollut. 119, 227–236 (2002)
Singh, K.P., Mohan, D., Tandon, G.S., Gupta, G.S.D.: Vapor-phase adsorption of hexane and benzene on activated carbon fabric cloth: equilibria nd rate studies. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 41, 2480–2486 (2002)
Vilaplana-Ortego, E., Alcaniz-Monge, J., Cazorla-Amoros, D., Linares-Solano, A.: Activated carbon fiber monoliths. Fuel Process. Technol. 77–78, 445–451 (2002)
Yun, J.H., Hwang, K.Y., Choi, D.K.: Adsorption of benzene and toluene vapors on activated carbon fiber at 298, 323, and 348 K. J. Chem. Eng. Data 43, 843–845 (1998)
Yun, J.H., Choi, D.K., Kim, S.H.: Equilibria and dynamics for mixed vapors of BTX in an activated carbon bed. AIChE J. 45, 751–760 (1999)
Zhang, X., Chen, S., Bi, H.T.: Application of wave propagation theory to adsorption breakthrough studies of toluene on activated carbon fiber beds. Carbon 48, 2317–2326 (2010)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lillo-Ródenas, M.A., Cazorla-Amorós, D. & Linares-Solano, A. Benzene and toluene adsorption at low concentration on activated carbon fibres. Adsorption 17, 473–481 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10450-010-9301-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10450-010-9301-7