ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Sensitivity Analysis of Transport Parameters Estimated from the Adsorption/Desorption Column Experiments to the Errors in Equilibrium Data

I. Tatárová and M. Polakovič

Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, SK-812 37 Bratislava

E-mail: milan.polakovic@stuba.sk

Received: 1 April 2004

Abstract: This study focused on the problem of the systematic errors of the adsorbed/desorbed amount in column experiments when the parameters of the Langmuir isotherm were obtained from independent experiments. The effect of this discrepancy on the estimation of the mass transfer coefficient in the linear driving force model was investigated. The systematic errors were introduced by using the negatively or positively biased values of the partition coefficient from 1 % to 10 %. Simulated experiments were carried out with the biased values using a dimensionless form of the adsorption column model having three parameters: the dimensionless mass transfer coefficient (d), the partition coefficient (Λ), and the separation factor (r) that characterizes the degree of saturation of adsorbent. It was found interesting to vary a single model parameter, the product of d and Λ. Three values of dΛ, 50, 500, and 5000, were used. They covered the situations from an almost immediate breakthrough of the solute in the outlet to a sharp bend at negligible mass transfer resistance. The deviations of the estimated and true values of d were presented as functions of the systematic errors both for adsorption and desorption. The accuracies of the estimates of d were characterized by the t-values calculated from the residual sum of squares function.

Full paper in Portable Document Format: 586a435.pdf

Chemical Papers 58 (6) 435–441 (2004)