Organic Vapor Recovery Using Activated Carbon Fiber Cloth and Electrothermal Desorption

This research developed a new air quality control technology that captures and recovers solvents for reuse in the process that generated the pollutants. This adsorption-based technology integrates the unique properties of Activated Carbon Fiber Cloth (ACFC), a high-performance micro-engineered adsorbent, with rapid in-situ Electrothermal Desorption (ED). ED regenerates the adsorbent by efficient electrical resistance heating. A unique aspect of this technology is that adsorbate readily condenses inside the adsorption vessel and is recovered as a pure liquid with only passive cooling during the regeneration of the ACFC. Such feature eliminates the need for auxiliary unit operations to treat the effluent that is generated during regeneration. A new adsorber configuration was also developed, with the ACFC arranged in multiple annular-shaped cartridges. Equilibrium adsorption isotherm data were also generated while alternating current was passing through the ACFC and at temperatures above the boiling point of the adsorbate. Solid-gas equilibria were shown to be accurately represented by the Dubinin-Radushkevich (DR) equation. A one-dimensional, homogenous, non-adiabatic model for the ED process was developed, which predicts the energy consumption and adsorbate mass recovery to within 7% of the experimental results. This new capture-and-recovery technology is cost-competitive, and can be used in situations where no current technology is practical.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Sullivan, Patrick D.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Rood, Mark J.

• Engineering, Chemical

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3086194

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/83208