Factors affecting the retention of methyl iodide by iodide-impregnated carbon

Iodide-impregnated activated carbon that had been in use for up to 30 months was studied to characterize those factors that affect its interaction with and retention of methyl iodide. Humidity and competing organic sorbents were observed to decrease the residence time of the methyl iodide on the carbon bed. Additionally, changes in the effective surface area and the loss of iodide from the surface are both important in determining the effectiveness of the carbon for retaining radioactive iodine from methyl iodide. A simple model incorporating both factors gave a fairly good fit to the experimental data.