ON MULTICOMPONENT ADSORPTION EQUILIBRIA OF XYLENE MIXTURES ON ZEOLITES

Adsorption equilibria of two ternary systems involving m-xylene, p-xylene, and either toluene or isopropylbenzene on zeolite K-Y have been studied. Due to nonideal behavior of the adsorbed phase, m- and p-xylene selectivity is strongly dependent upon composition. In particular, it is found that the addition of a third component can either enhance or depress such selectivity values. Ternary experimental data are well predicted by the developed equilibrium model, whose parameters can be estimated based only on experimental data relative to pure and binary mixtures. Finally, the role of these nonidealities in the equilibrium behavior on the dynamics of adsorption separation columns is discussed.