ABSTRACT
One component adsorption equilibria are traditionally divided into five categories: type I and type III are concave downward and upward, respectively, while the remaining ones — types II, IV, and V — are of an inflecting type. The celebrated Langmuir equation represents a special case of the type I isotherm and includes the Henry constant H to represent adsorption in the limit of vanishingly small concentrations. Type III isotherms is indeed the case: adsorption along a type III curve leads to an expanding front whose propagation speed varies inversely with the isotherm slope. The chapter presents the effect of mass transfer on the operation and the approach will be to graft its influence onto the results of our present equilibrium analysis. "Minimum bed requirements" (adsorption) and "minimum purge requirements" (desorption) are the important design parameters which determine the fixed and operating costs of the sorption operation.
