Incremental Gravimetry: a Method for Two-parameter Model Building of Binary Gas Co-adsorption Equilibria

This paper presents and develops a novel methodology to determine thermodynamic parameters of binary gas co-adsorption equilibria at given total pressure, based exclusively on binary gravimetric measurements at this same total pressure, together with single component isotherms. By “Incremental Gravimetry”, we designate a procedure in which the adsorbent sample is submitted to increments of composition of a flowing binary gas, and the corresponding increments of weight of the sample at equilibrium are measured. The experimental example is the co-adsorption of methane and carbon dioxide on Norit activated carbon near ambient temperature and pressure. The approach relies on the thermodynamics of non-ideal adsorbed solutions. The experimental methodology is described, the underlying theory is then presented. Compact analytical expressions are established that relate the measured limiting slopes of the incremental gravimetric curves (at infinite dilution of one component in the other) to quantities that derive only from the pure component isotherms, and to the infinite dilution activity coefficients. The latter are then uniquely determined. Classical two-parameter models for the composition dependence of activity coefficients are then implemented to reconstruct the complete binary isotherms and the incremental gravimetric curves. The comparison of the latter with the measured curves permits to test the different models. 1 ha l-0 07 85 32 0, v er si on 1 6 Fe b 20 13 Author manuscript, published in "Adsorption 10, 2 (2004) 159-185"