Contribution of concentration-dependent surface diffusion in ternary adsorption kinetics of ethane, propane and n-butane in activated carbon

The role of concentration-dependent surface diffusion in the adsorption kinetics of a multicomponent system is investigated in this paper. Ethane, propane and n-butane are selected as the model adsorbates and Ajar activated carbon as the model adsorbent. Adsorption equilibrium isotherm and dynamic parameters extracted from single-component systems are used to predict the ternary adsorption equilibria and kinetics. The effect of concentration-dependent surface diffusion on the adsorption kinetics predictions is studied by comparing the results of two mathematical models with the experimental data. Three diffusion mechanisms, macropore, surface and micropore diffusions are incorporated in both models. The distinction between these two models is the use of the chemical potential gradient as the driving force for the diffusion of the adsorbed species in one model and the concentration gradient in the other. It was found that the model using the chemical potential gradient provides a better prediction of the ternary adsorption kinetics data, suggesting the importance of the concentration dependency of the surface diffusion, which is implicitly reflected in the chemical potential gradient. The kinetic model predictions are also affected by the way how single-component adsorption equilibrium isotherm data are fitted.