Liquid phase adsorption separation of a c6 naphthene and paraffin binary mixture

Abstract

This study involves to determination of adsorption isotherms for a naphthene and paraffin binary mixture, n-hexane and cyclohexane, and a set of breakthrough curves in a fixed-bed column packed with coconut shell based granular activated carbon at 15 C. The results show that the activated carbon preferentially adsorbs n-hexane and the adsorption isotherm follows a Freundlich type equation. Calculations of breakthrough curves from a mathematical analysis based on a surface diffusion phenomenon were made and show good agreement between theoretical and experimental data.