Breakthrough of toluene vapours in granular activated carbon filled packed bed reactor

The objective of this research was to determine the toluene removal efficiency and breakthrough time using commercially available coconut shell-based granular activated carbon in packed bed reactor. To study the effect of toluene removal and break point time of the granular activated carbon (GAC), the parameters studied were bed lengths (2, 3, and 4cm), concentrations (5, 10, and 15mg l(-1)) and flow rates (20,40, and 60 ml/min). The maximum percentage removal of 90% was achieved and the maximum carbon capacity for 5 mg l(-1) of toluene, 60 ml/min flow rate and 3 cm bed length shows 607.14 mg/g. The results of dynamic adsorption in a packed bed were consistent with those of equilibrium adsorption by gravimetric method. The breakthrough time and quantity shows that GAC with appropriate surface area can be utilized for air cleaning filters. The result shows that the physisorption plays main role in toluene removal. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.