Parallelly Aligned, Activated Carbon Coated Plates Operating as Adsorption Columns for Removing VOCs

Abstract

A semi‒pilot-scale adsorption reactor was fabricated to remove a volatile organic compound (VOC) gases mixture (BTEX). Activated carbon (AC) was immobilized by coating it on stainless steel plates using a polyvinyl acetate (PVA) binder, and the open-pore structure was maintained after the coating process. Parallelly aligned plates coated with AC minimized the decrease in pressure by inducing smooth fluid flow and maintained a high removal efficiency even at a high linear velocity. The order of the capacities for adsorption was: xylene > ethyl benzene > toluene > benzene, which was due to their differences in hydrophobicity and molecular weight. The adsorption-desorption process was performed for five successive cycles. The efficiency of removal was evidently the same for all cycles, which makes this reactor a sustainable one.