Experimental Measurement and Modeling of Water Vapor Adsorption on Solid Materials

The presence of water vapor in natural gas flows can cause many problems, includingcorrosion and hydrate formation in gas transmission pipelines and refinery equipment.One of the practical methods is to use a solid adsorbent to remove water vapor fromthe gas flow. In this research, pure water vapor was used as an ideal gas, and theperformance of two types of adsorbents (silica gel and zeolite-۴A) was investigated.Saturated steam injection was done in a constant volume system in the pressure range(۶۰ kPa) because in the gas industry, the partial pressure of water vapor is in thisrange. BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) analysis was performed for both adsorbents.The absorption efficiency showed that the silica gel adsorbent has a better performancein removing water vapor in all conditions than zeolite ۴A. Temperature had a greateffect on the absorption rate. By reducing the temperature of zeolite-۴A adsorbent andsilica gel to ۴۵°C, the absorption rate increased by ۵.۸ and ۲.۰۷ times, respectively.Isotherms (Langmuir, Freundlich, Toth and Henry Langmuir) were used to predict thecharge of adsorption and heat of adsorption as a function of pressure and temperature,the findings of which were consistent with the experimental data.

Keywords:

Dehydration , Water vapor , Silica Gel , Zeolite ۴A , Adsorption isotherms