Adsorptive separation studies of ethane-methane and methane-nitrogen systems using mesoporous carbon.

Adsorptive separations of C(2)H(6)/CH(4) and CH(4)/N(2) binary mixtures are of paramount importance from the energy and environmental points of view. A mesoporous carbon adsorbent was synthesized using a soft template method and characterized with TEM, TGA, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption. Adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of C(2)H(6), CH(4), and N(2) on the mesoporous carbon adsorbent were determined at 278, 298, and 318 K and pressures up to 100 kPa. The adsorption capacities of C(2)H(6) and CH(4) on the mesoporous carbon adsorbent at 298 K and 100 kPa are 2.20 mmol/g and 1.05 mmol/g, respectively. Both are significantly higher than those of many adsorbents including pillared clays and ETS-10 at a similar condition. The equilibrium selectivities of C(2)H(6)/CH(4) and CH(4)/N(2) at 298 K are 19.6 and 5.8, respectively. It was observed that the adsorption of C(2)H(6), CH(4), and N(2) gases on the carbon adsorbent was reversible with modest isosteric heats of adsorption, which implies that this carbon adsorbent can be easily regenerated in a cyclic adsorption process. These results suggest that the mesoporous carbon studied in this work is a promising alternative adsorbent for the separations of C(2)H(6)/CH(4) and CH(4)/N(2) gas mixtures.