Adsorption of Automotive Paint Solvents On Activated Carbon: I. Equilibrium Adsorption of Single Vapors

A bench scale system to measure adsorption of organic vapors on activated carbon is described in this report. The system was used to measure the equilibrium adsorption isotherms of n-heptane, n-butanol, and methyl isobutyl ketone at a concentration range of 50 to 900 ppm on a Columbia JXC activated carbon and the adsorption capacity of eleven additional solvents at a concentration of 365 ppm. It is found that the Polyani–Dubinin correlation describes the results well. Using n-heptane as a reference solvent, the mean error in the prediction of equilibrium adsorption capacity is 1.9% and the maximum error 7.2%.