Adsorption of dodecane from water in a rotating packed bed

An RPB (rotating packed bed) adsorption process was developed to remove emulsified dodecane from water under a centrifugal field. With activated carbon and sawdust as adsorbents, respectively, experimental results showed that the centrifugal force could enhance the rate of adsorption. Although an empirical pseudo-first-order model could describe the adsorption satisfactorily for both RPB and conventional packed bed, a mathematical analysis was provided to obtain mass transfer coefficient. It was shown that mass transfer coefficient increased with increasing rotational speed and liquid rate to the power of 0.81-0.86, and 0.34, respectively. These experimental results are consistent with the theoretical prediction of Munjal et al. (1989a, 1989b).