Kinetics of the total and reversible adsorption of propylene and propane on zeolite 4A (CECA) at different temperatures

The kinetics of adsorption of pure propylene (C3H6) and propane (C3H8) on a commercial zeolite sample 4A (CECA), provided by the company CECA, has been measured in the temperature range of 20–185 °C using a high-vacuum volumetric glass device. For temperatures below the critical temperature of C3H6 (<92 °C), especially at 20 °C and with long contact times, a certain amount of irreversibly adsorbed C3H6 was observed, whereas for temperatures above the critical temperature the irreversibly adsorbed amount of propylene was extremely small. The isosteric heat of adsorption for C3H6 was also evaluated. Unlike the C3H6, the adsorbed amount of C3H8 on the 4A (CECA) sample at low and high temperatures was negligible and totally reversible. These results allow the assumption that this sample could be an excellent adsorbent for the molecular sieve separation of C3H6/C3H8 mixtures in the temperature range of 150–185 °C.