Rate parameters for adsorption of CO2 in beds of carbon particles

Abstract Adsorption equilibrium constants and intraparticle diffusivities were determined for the adsorption of carbon dioxide on an activated carbon derived from bituminous coal particles. The moment method was used to extract these results from pulse‐response measurements for beds of carbon particles. The activated carbon had a very broad pore‐size distribution: average radius of micropores was 11Å and macropores 3750Å. Bulk molecular and Knudsen diffusion could not explain mass transfer in the micropores. An activated surface migration concept (Chihara et al., 1978) did give reasonable results. The adsorption rate was also significantly retarded by intraparticle diffusion in the macropores.