Fixed-Bed Adsorbers Qualitative discussion The inconvenience and relatively high cost of continuously transporting solid particles as required

in steady-state operations frequently make it more economical to pass the fluid mixture to be treated through a stationary bed of adsorbent. As increasing amounts of fluid are passed through such a bed, the solid adsorbs increasing amounts of solute, an unsteady state prevails. This technique is very widely used and finds application in such diverse fields as the recovery of valuable solvent vapors from gases, purifying air, dehydration of gases and liquids, the concentration of valuable solutes from liquid solutions, and many others. The adsorption wave: Consider a binary solution, either gas or liquid, containing a strongly adsorbed solute at concentration Yo
kg solute . The fluid is to be passed continuously down kg solvent

through a relatively deep bed of adsorbent. Initially the adsorbent is highly activated and the adsorbate loading Xo
kg solute is low. At some starting time feed at a steady flow with kg adsorbent

uniform concentration (Yo) of adsorbable component is admitted to the activated adsorbent bed. As the fluid passes through the bed, the adsorbable component is attracted to and adsorbed on the adsorbent. Flow continues under steady state conditions. At some time later, an analysis of uniformly spaced samples taken from the adsorbent bed would show an adsorbate loading curve similar to that shown in Figure 1 a . At the inlet of the bed, the adsorbate loading would be X e, the equilibrium loading corresponding to the concentration of sorbable component in the feed (Y o). That portion of bed whose adsorbate loading is equal to X e is defined as the equilibrium zone. Toward the effluent end of the bed. The adsorbate loading would be X o, essentially the same as it was when the fluid was first admitted to be bed. That portion of the bed whose adsorbate loading is equal X o is defined as the unused bed zone In some intermediate zone, the adsorbate loading changes from saturated value Xe to the initial adsorbate loading Xo, and this is represented by an S shaped wave in Figure 1 It is this zone that the sorbable component in being transferred from the bulk fluid to adsorbate phase. This portion of the bed is defined as the Mass Transfer Zone (abbreviated as MTZ). The S shaped wave in X-L plot is defined as the X-L mass transfer wave or mass transfer front. As flow continues, the mass transfer wave moves through the bed . Breakthrough is said to occur when the leading edge of the mass transfer wave just reaches the effluent end of the bed. It is important to note that breakthrough concentration is arbitrarily defined. It is usually taken as either the minimum detectable or the maximum allowable concentration of adsorbable component in the adsorbed effluent. The time at which breakthrough occurs is called the breakthrough time (tb). If the flow were continued all of the adsorbent in the bed would be at equilibrium with the concentration of adsorbable component in feed, the adsorbent capacity would then be completely spent.

The concentration of adsorbable component in the effluent (Y) as a function of time would show a curve as shown as in Figure 2. Initially the concentration is equal to Y a (Ya is equilibrium concentration of adsorbable component corresponding to Xo, the adsorbate loading at the effluent end of the bed. From the starting time until the breakthrough time (t b) the concentration of sorbable component in the effluent remains equal to Ya, at time tb when the leading edge of X-L mass transfer wave reaches the effluent end of the bed the concentration Y in effluent begins to increase. From time tb until time te the concentration of sorbable component in the effluent increases until its is equal to Yo. The smooth S shapes wave in the Y-t plot is defined as the Y-t mass transfer wave or front. The fact that real mass transfer waves are S shapes is evidence of resistance to mass transfer. If the adsorption process were infinitely rapid, the breakthrough curve would be a straight verticle line. The greater the resistance, the longer is the wave. As mass transfer resistance decreases, the wave becomes shorter. The shape and time of appearance of a breakthrough curve greatly influence the method of operating a fixed bed adsorber. The curves generally have an S shape, it they may be steep or relatively flat and in some cases considerably distorted.. The actual rate and mechanism of the adsorption process, the nature of the adsorption equilibrium, the fluid velocity, the concentration of solute in the feed, and the length of the adsorber bed (particularly if the concentration of sorbable component in the feed is high) all contribute to the shape in high of the curve produced for any system. The breakpoint is very sharply defined in some cases and in others poorly defined. Generally the breakpoint time decreases with decreased bed height, increased particle size of the adsorbent, increased rate of flow of fluid through the bed, and increased initial solute concentration of the feed. There is a critical minimum bed height below which the solute concentration in the effluent will rise rapidly from the first appearance of effluent. In planning new processes it is best to determine the breakpoint and breakthrough curve for a particular system experimentally under conditions resembling as much as possible those expected in the process.