Modeling of steady-state desorption of organic vapor from activated carbon with electrothermal swing adsorption

A mathematical model to simulate steady-state desorption of organic compounds from activated carbon was developed and evaluated with experimental data from a bench-scale system. The bench-scale system used activated carbon fiber cloth (ACFC) to adsorb methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) from air streams and then direct electrothermal heating to desorb the vapor to generate select vapor concentrations. The simulations described steady-state desorption of MEK from the ACFC to generate air streams containing 500 ppmv or 5,000 ppmv of MEK. Those gas streams could then be treated by biofiltration or oxidation, respectively. Simulated temperature of the cartridges, temperature of vessel wall, and power applied during the regeneration cycles were compared to the experimental data. Overall model predictions are very encouraging. In general, better agreement between the measured and simulated results occurred at lower temperatures and vapor concentrations. This mathematical model can be used later with optimization tools to optimize this process and to scale-up the system.