Competitive Adsorption Among VOCs on Activated Carbon and Carbonaceous Resin

The ideal adsorbed solution (IAS) model was used to predict multicomponent adsorption equilibria for carbon tetrachloride, trichloroethylene, and tetrachloroethylene in two‐component and three‐component solutions on activated carbon and carbonaceous resin. Single‐solute adsorption experiments were performed to acquire isotherm parameters and multicomponent adsorption experiments to verify IAS model results. The model described some of the multicomponent adsorption equilibria for the concentration range of 1‐2000 μg/L. However, there were notable exceptions not easily explained by experimental error, suggesting that the IAS model may not be valid in general. Carbonaceous resin has a higher capacity for each of the three volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) than does activated carbon, and the order of adsorbability when in competition agrees with that expected from the relative adsorbability of each VOC as determined from its adsorption isotherms, i.e., from high to low—tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, and carbon tetrachloride.