Quantitative imaging of gas adsorption equilibrium and dynamics by X-ray computed tomography
Ronny Pini, Lisa Joss, Sayed Alireza Hosseinzadeh Hejazi
Abstract
Abstract We present the development and application of X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) for the determination of the adsorption properties of microporous adsorbents and the study of breakthrough experiments in a laboratory fixed-bed adsorption column. Using the model system $$\text {CO}_2/\text {helium}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mtext>CO</mml:mtext><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub><mml:mo>/</mml:mo><mml:mtext>helium</mml:mtext></mml:mrow></mml:math> on activated carbon, equilibrium and dynamic adsorption/desorption measurements by X-ray CT are described, and the results are successfully compared to those obtained from conventional methods, including the application of a one-dimensional dynamic column breakthrough model. The study demonstrates the practical feasibility of applying X-ray CT to measure internal and transient concentration profiles in adsorbent systems on the length-scales from a single adsorbent pellet to a packed column.