Effect of ultrasound on adsorption of azeotropic and non-azeotropic mixture onto activated carbon

Abstract

Experimental study was performed to evaluate the effect of ultrasound on the adsorption isotherms of azeotropic and non-azeotropic mixture onto activated carbon. Acetone-ethanol solution was selected as an azeotropic mixture and methanol-ethanol solution as non-azeotropic mixture. Adsorption equilibrium experiments were separately conducted at constant temperature with and without ultrasound. For the experiments without ultrasound, known amount of activated carbon was added to the selected mixture and left for equilibrium to achieve. Once the equilibrium was achieved, the mixture of samples were filtered and diluted before they were injected in to GCMS for analysis. For the effect of ultrasound, the experiment was repeated with the application of ultrasound. The Ultrasound was applied at a frequency of 21 kHz with 25% amplitude at atmospheric pressure. Adsorption of azeotropic and non-azeotropic mixtures were analyzed by monolayer theory. The results were found that the adsorptive capacity of azeotropic and non-azeotropic mixtures on activated carbon decreased but increased the selectivity.