Ethylene oxide removal by sorption on aluminium oxide

Abstract

The dynamics of ethylene oxide sorption and desorption on Al2O3 sorbent were investigated. The investigations of ethylene oxide sorption on Al2O3 show that significant sorption appeared above 125°C. The removal of sorbed ethylene oxide from Al2O3 was achieved by continuous increasing of the temperature up to 450°C in air stream. The analysis of desorbed products show that 90% of adsorbed ethylene oxide is converted to CO2 and the rest consists of the three derivatives of ethylene oxide. The exact composition of desorbed organic products will be determined in further investigation. The desorption temperature profiles point out the presence of two exothermic picks, as was confirmed by detection of CO2 and derivates of ethylene oxide at these temperatures. Investigation of textural characteristics and thermal stability of Al2O3 sorbent show that there are no changes of any characteristics of Al2O3 in sorption/desorption operating temperatures regimes. Only at 700°C the specific surface area of Al2O3 decreases of about 10%. This indicates that the investigated Al2O3 is convenient material for removal of ethylene oxide by sorption.

U ovom radu prikazana su ispitivanja dinamike sorpcije i desorpcije etilen oksida na Al2O3 kao i sorpcioni kapaciteti, temperaturni režimi desorpcije i sastav produkata desorpcije etilen oksida. Rezultati su ukazali da sferni Al2O3 sorbent poseduje zadovoljavajuće sorpcione karakteristike za uklanjanje etilen oksida. Na temperaturama iznad 125°C ne dolazi do značajnog povećanja kapaciteta sorpcije etilen oksida. Produkti desorpcije etilen oksida sa Al2O3 sorbenta, postepenim povećanjem temperature u vazduhu, sadrže oko 90% CO2, a ostatak čine derivati etilen oksida. Ispitivanja teksturalnih karakteristika i termičke stabilnosti Al2O3 sorbenta pokazala su da u sorpciono/desorpcionom operativnom režimu nema nikakvih teksturalnih promena sorbenta. Ovo ukazuje da je ispitivana alumina pogodan materijal za sorpciono uklanjanje etilen oksida.