(443e) The Partial Loading Zero Length Column Experiment

The Zero Length Column technique has now become a common tool to measure mass transfer kinetics in microporous adsorbents. The partial loading experiment is a variant of the traditional ZLC method in which the adsorbent is not allowed to reach full equilibration with the gas phase. Even though this variant of the ZLC experiment was introduced over 10 years ago, it has been applied only by few researchers. In this contribution we review the basic theory of the partial loading experiment and show that it can be used to establish the contributions of different mass transfer mechanisms. A detailed numerical model that includes the effects nonlinear isotherms and combined diffusion and surface barrier effects is presented to allow the correlation of complex sorbates-sorbent systems.