Adsorption and Desorption of Volatile Organic Compounds in Fluidized Bed

A model of adsorption and thermal desorption was built and validated from experiments performed under various operating conditions. The abatement increased with the reduction in the inlet concentration and with the increase of bed height. Particles at the end of adsorption step were saturated although their pores were not completely filled with acetone. Adsorption yielded an increase of the bed temperature at the beginning of the tests, where the separation rate had the maximum value nearly equal to 100%, but the temperature rise of the bed remained much smaller than that obtained in fixed-bed adsorption for similar conditions. Simulations of a process operating with successive cycles of adsorption and thermal desorption was then performed. Desorption appeared to have a reasonable duration compared to adsorption. Calculations proved that a third reactor for transient states from adsorption to desorption or from desorption to adsorption that would achieve the cooling or the heating of particles was not necessary. Results show the feasibility of the adsorption–desorption process of volatile organic compounds in fluidized beds of granular activated carbon.