A Fixed-Bed Column Sorption: Breakthrough Curves Modeling

Abstract

Global attention has increasingly focused on environmental pollution due to its widespread and devastating impact. The urgency of addressing climate change has propelled it to the forefront of governmental agendas worldwide, emphasizing the need for actions to secure a pollution-free future. Pollution treatment methods have consequently gained global significance, with adsorption emerging as a particularly relevant approach, especially in developing economies. Adsorption proves to be a cost-effective, safe, efficient, and easily manageable method that can utilize low-cost or waste materials. In designing treatment systems based on adsorption, batch tests are crucial, employing adsorption isotherms such as Langmuir and Freundlich to understand the phenomenon. While equilibrium points are essential in some situations, continuous processes benefit from column implementations, where a fundamental understanding of breakthrough curves becomes pivotal. Various adsorption kinetic models, such as the Thomas model, Adams–Bohart model, Yoon–Nelson model, and bed-depth/service time (BDST) model, explain and determine breakthrough curves. The assessment of these models for compatibility with experimental data and model-generated data is essential. Criteria such as Mean Relative Error (MRE) and Normalized Relative Mean Square Error (NRMSE) are commonly employed to objectively select the most suitable model for a given scenario.