The Simulation of Trace Gas Pollution Adsorption on Silica Gel

Abstract

Silica gel has a potential ability to adsorb water vapor and contaminant together, so it has been focused recently in indoor air environment. In this paper, the performance of silica gel adsorbing trace gas pollutions in isothermal column is studied through theoretical methods. The model of the adsorption column system was set up based on mass conservation, linear driving force model and Henry's Law. An implicit differential method was used to solve the model in the Matlab environment and to obtain the breakthrough curves. Seven simulation experiments were conducted to discuss the effect of overall mass transfer coefficient, Henry parameter and gas velocity on adsorption process. From the result it indicated that the overall mass transfer coefficient impacts the breakthrough point enormously. Henry parameter reflects the adsorption capacity of adsorbent particle, high Henry constant affords long lifespan of adsorbent. Furthermore, high efficient and long-term use of adsorbent cannot obtain without reasonable gas velocity.