Uncertainty analysis of adsorption measurements using commercial gravimetric sorption analyzers with simultaneous density measurement based on a magnetic-suspension balance

A commercial gravimetric sorption analyzer, which is based on a magnetic-suspension balance, was significantly improved to reduce the uncertainty in adsorption measurements. In a previous paper, we investigated the force-transmission error (FTE) of the instrument’s magnetic-suspension coupling, and we analysed the uncertainty of the density measurement. In the present paper, equations for the determination of the adsorption on porous and quasi non-porous materials are provided, where the FTE is taken into account, and a detailed uncertainty analysis is presented. The uncertainty analysis was applied to both the improved measurement system and a typical commercial gravimetric sorption analyzer. Adsorption test measurements were conducted with carbon dioxide along the T = 283 K isotherm at pressures up to the dew-point pressure using both a porous material (zeolite 13X) and a quasi non-porous material (solid metallic sinkers). The major uncertainty contributions for adsorption on the porous material were the mass and volume of the adsorbent sample and the assumption of the density of the adsorbed fluid; for the quasi non-porous material, the main contributions were the weighing values of the balance, the density of the investigated fluid in the gas phase, and the volume of the non-porous material. The influence of the FTE on the adsorption on the porous material was approximately 0.002 mmol⋅g−1, which was negligibly small; but the influence of the FTE was significant in the case of the quasi non-porous material, i.e., approximately 0.7 mmol⋅m−2 or about 22% of the adsorption capacity with the highest adsorption observed in this work (near the dew-point pressure). This indicates that the influence of the FTE increases significantly with decreasing adsorption capacity of the adsorbent sample.