Adsorption Properties and Breakthrough Model of Formaldehyde on Bone Char

The objective of this investigation was to study the adsorption of formaldehyde (CH2O) vapor on bone char (BC) using isotherm models. The BC as an adsorbent was produced from cattle and sheep bones by pyrolysis in furnace. The adsorption breakthrough time and the equilibrium adsorption capacity of CH2O on BC were studied. The Yoon and Nelson model was applied to investigate the breakthrough behavior of CH2O vapor on BC columns for breakthrough fraction less than 50%. The k' and t values were used to calculate the entire breakthrough curve regarding the adsorption of CH2O vapor on BC columns. The maximum value of the BET, apparent density and the average pore size for the BC were 105.24 m 2 /g, 0.645 g/cm 3 and 13.95 nm, respectively. The 50% breakthrough time t decreases with increasing CH2O inlet concentration. The experimental data were found to fit well to Langmuir isotherm in term of obtained R 2 value (0.999). The obtained qmax (maximum adsorption capacity) parameter for formaldehyde vapor adsorption was 290.11 mg/g. The results suggest that BC could be used as a suitable adsorbent for the removal of formaldehyde in gaseous phase by adsorption process.