The migration and diffusion of unsteady-state VOCs flow on activated carbon adsorption beds

ABSTRACTTraditionally, in engineering applications, VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions are usually under non-steady states due to intermittent emissions and concentration fluctuations, which adversely affects the stable and reliable operation of many existing purification systems and may constitute a safety hazard. However, previous studies on VOC adsorption by adsorbents have mostly focused on the adsorption performance and properties of different modified adsorbents. Few studies of VOC adsorption have focused on adsorption or movement for unsteady-state VOCs using activated carbon adsorption beds. This study investigated three common and important factors (load time ratio, load mode and no-load flow rate) that affect the adsorption of unsteady-state VOCs by activated carbon. This allowed the migration and movement of VOCs between activated carbon adsorption beds under different factors to be analyzed, which provides important insights in understanding VOC adsorption and can promote the development of homogeneous buffering technology for non-steady state VOCs. In addition, this information provides support for the development of pollution control processes for tidal VOCs discharge airflows that result from storage and transportation operations, and also provides parameters that could support practical applications of activated carbon to adsorb unsteady-state VOCs.