GENERALIZATION OF THERMODYNAMIC LANGMUIR ISOTHERMS FOR MIXED-GAS ADSORPTION EQUILIBRIA

Abstract

A system and method for estimating an adsorption equilibria for one or more gases from pure component adsorption isotherms includes providing one or more processors, a memory communicably coupled to the one or more processors and an output device communicably coupled to the one or more processors, calculating an adsorption of each gas on a constant monolayer adsorption surface is calculated using the one or more processors and the generalized Langmuir isotherm equations (24)-(26) or equation (27), providing the adsorption of each gas to the output device, and developing a chemical process or product is developed using the adsorption of each gas.

Claims

1. A computerized method for estimating an adsorption equilibria for one or more gases from pure component adsorption isotherms comprising: providing one or more processors, a memory communicably coupled to the one or more processors and an output device communicably coupled to the one or more processors; calculating, using the one or more processors, an adsorption of each gas i on a constant monolayer adsorption surface A.sup.o using generalized Langmuir isotherm equations: $_{i} = \frac{n_{i} A_{i}}{A^{o}} = \frac{K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}{\frac{_{i}}{_{} q_{i}} + {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} \frac{_{i} q_{j}}{_{j} q_{i}} K_{j}^{o} y_{j} P}$ $_{} = \frac{n_{} A_{}}{A^{o}} = \frac{1}{1 + {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} \frac{_{} q_{j}}{_{j}} K_{j}^{o} y_{j} P}$ $q_{i} = \frac{A_{i}}{A_{}}$ where: .sub.i is an adsorbate phase area fraction covered with the gas i, n.sub.iA.sub.i is an occupied area for the gas i, K.sub.i.sup.o is an intrinsic adsorption equilibrium constant of the gas i, y.sub.i is a gas phase mole fraction of gas i, P is a gas vapor pressure, .sub.i is an activity coefficient of the gas i, .sub. is an activity coefficient of vacant sites, q.sub.i is a ratio of an effective area of the gas i (A.sub.i) and an effective area of a phantom molecule (A.sub.), n is a number of the one or more gases, .sub. is an adsorbate phase vacant site area fraction, and n.sub.A.sub. is a vacant area for the phantom molecule ; providing the adsorption of each gas i to the output device; and developing a chemical process or a product using the adsorption of each gas i.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the generalized Langmuir isotherm equations reduce to $\frac{n_{i}}{n_{i}^{0}} = \frac{K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}{1 + {.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n} K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}$ when (1) the adsorbate and vacant site effective areas are the same A.sub.1=A.sub.2= . . . =A.sub.i=A.sub., or equivalently, the saturation loadings of adsorbates and phantom molecule are same n.sub.1.sup.0=n.sub.2.sup.0= . . . =n.sub.i.sup.0=n.sub..sup.0, and (2) the adsorbate phase activity coefficients are unity .sub.i=.sub.=1.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more gases comprise a mixed gas having two or more components.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the constant monolayer adsorption surface comprises activated carbon, LiLSX or Zeolite H-mordenite.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the gas i comprises CH.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.3H.sub.6, N.sub.2, O.sub.2, CO.sub.2, H.sub.2S, or C.sub.3H.sub.8.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.4, CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.3H.sub.6, and C.sub.2H.sub.6C.sub.3H.sub.6.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from N.sub.2 and O.sub.2.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from H.sub.2SCO.sub.2, C.sub.3H.sub.8H.sub.2S, and C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2.

9. The chemical process or the product developed in accordance with claim 1.

10. A system for estimating an adsorption equilibria for one or more gases from pure component adsorption isotherms comprising: at least one input/output interface; a data storage; one or more processors communicably coupled to the at least one input/output interface and the data storage, wherein the one or more processors calculate an adsorption of each gas i on a constant monolayer adsorption surface A.sup.o using generalized Langmuir isotherm equations: $_{i} = \frac{n_{i} A_{i}}{A^{o}} = \frac{K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}{\frac{_{i}}{_{} q_{i}} + {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} \frac{_{i} q_{j}}{_{j} q_{i}} K_{j}^{o} y_{j} P}$ $_{} = \frac{n_{} A_{}}{A^{o}} = \frac{1}{1 + {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} \frac{_{} q_{j}}{_{j}} K_{j}^{o} y_{j} P}$ $q_{i} = \frac{A_{i}}{A_{}}$ where: .sub.i is an adsorbate phase area fraction covered with the gas i, n.sub.iA.sub.i is an occupied area for the gas i, K.sub.i.sup.o is an intrinsic adsorption equilibrium constant of the gas i, y.sub.i is a gas phase mole fraction of gas i, P is a gas vapor pressure, .sub.i is an activity coefficient of the gas i, .sub. is an activity coefficient of vacant sites, q.sub.i is a ratio of an effective area of the gas i (A.sub.i) and an effective area of a phantom molecule (A.sub.), n is a number of the one or more gases, .sub. is an adsorbate phase vacant site area fraction, and n.sub.A.sub. is a vacant area for the phantom molecule ; and wherein the adsorption of each gas i is provided to the output device, and a chemical process or a product is developed using the adsorption of each gas i.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the generalized Langmuir isotherm equations reduce to $\frac{n_{i}}{n_{i}^{0}} = \frac{K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}{1 + {.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n} K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}$ when (1) the adsorbate and vacant site effective areas are the same A.sub.1=A.sub.2= . . . =A.sub.i=A.sub., or equivalently, the saturation loadings of adsorbates and phantom molecule are same n.sub.1.sup.0=n.sub.2.sup.0= . . . =n.sub.i.sup.0=n.sub..sup.0, and (2) the adsorbate phase activity coefficients are unity .sub.i=.sub.=1.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more gases comprise a mixed gas having two or more components.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the constant monolayer adsorption surface comprises activated carbon, LiLSX or Zeolite H-mordenite.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the gas i comprises CH.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.3H.sub.6, N.sub.2, O.sub.2, CO.sub.2, H.sub.2S, or C.sub.3H.sub.8.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.4, CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.3H.sub.6, and C.sub.2H.sub.6C.sub.3H.sub.6.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from N.sub.2 and O.sub.2.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from H.sub.2SC.sub.2, C.sub.3H.sub.8H.sub.2S, and C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2.

18. A computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium that is executed using one or more processors for estimating an adsorption equilibria for one or more gases from pure component adsorption isotherms comprising: a code segment for calculate an adsorption of each gas i on a constant monolayer adsorption surface A.sup.o using generalized Langmuir isotherm equations: $_{i} = \frac{n_{i} A_{i}}{A^{o}} = \frac{K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}{\frac{_{i}}{_{} q_{i}} + {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} \frac{_{i} q_{j}}{_{j} q_{i}} K_{j}^{o} y_{j} P}$ $_{} = \frac{n_{} A_{}}{A^{o}} = \frac{1}{1 + {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} \frac{_{} q_{j}}{_{j}} K_{j}^{o} y_{j} P}$ $q_{i} = \frac{A_{i}}{A_{}}$ where: .sub.i is an adsorbate phase area fraction covered with the gas i, n.sub.iA.sub.i is an occupied area for the gas i, K.sub.i.sup.o is an intrinsic adsorption equilibrium constant of the gas i, y.sub.i is a gas phase mole fraction of gas i, P is a gas vapor pressure, .sub.i is an activity coefficient of the gas i, .sub. is an activity coefficient of vacant sites, q.sub.i is a ratio of an effective area of the gas i (A.sub.i) and an effective area of a phantom molecule (A.sub.), n is a number of the one or more gases, .sub. is an adsorbate phase vacant site area fraction, and n.sub.A.sub. is a vacant area for the phantom molecule ; and a code segment for developing a chemical process or a product using the adsorption of each gas i.

19. A method of adsorbing one or more gases comprising: providing a vessel containing a constant monolayer adsorption surface A.sup.o; introducing the one or more gasses into the vessel; and wherein the adsorption of each gas i on the constant monolayer adsorption surface A.sup.o is determined by generalized Langmuir isotherm equations: $_{i} = \frac{n_{i} A_{i}}{A^{o}} = \frac{K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}{\frac{_{i}}{_{} q_{i}} + {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} \frac{_{i} q_{j}}{_{j} q_{i}} K_{j}^{o} y_{j} P}$ $_{} = \frac{n_{} A_{}}{A^{o}} = \frac{1}{1 + {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} \frac{_{} q_{j}}{_{j}} K_{j}^{o} y_{j} P}$ $q_{i} = \frac{A_{i}}{A_{}}$ where: .sub.i is an adsorbate phase area fraction covered with the gas i, n.sub.iA.sub.i is an occupied area for the gas i, K.sub.i.sup.o is an intrinsic adsorption equilibrium constant of the gas i, y.sub.i is a gas phase mole fraction of gas i, P is a gas vapor pressure, .sub.i is an activity coefficient of the gas i, .sub. is an activity coefficient of vacant sites, q.sub.i is a ratio of an effective area of the gas i (A.sub.i) and an effective area of a phantom molecule (A.sub.), n is a number of the one or more gases, .sub. is an adsorbate phase vacant site area fraction, and n.sub.A.sub. is a vacant area for the phantom molecule .

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the generalized Langmuir isotherm equations reduce to $\frac{n_{i}}{n_{i}^{0}} = \frac{K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}{1 + {.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n} K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}$ when (1) the adsorbate and vacant site effective areas are the same A.sub.1=A.sub.2= . . . =A.sub.i=A.sub., or equivalently, the saturation loadings of adsorbates and phantom molecule are same n.sub.1.sup.0=n.sub.2.sup.0= . . . =n.sub.i.sup.0=n.sub..sup.0, and (2) the adsorbate phase activity coefficients are unity .sub.i=.sub.=1.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or more gases comprise a mixed gas having two or more components.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the constant monolayer adsorption surface comprises activated carbon, LiLSX or Zeolite H-mordenite.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the gas i comprises CH.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.3H.sub.6, N.sub.2, O.sub.2, CO.sub.2, H.sub.2S, or C.sub.3H.sub.8.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.4, CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.3H.sub.6, and C.sub.2H.sub.6C.sub.3H.sub.6.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from N.sub.2 and O.sub.2.

26. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from H.sub.2SC.sub.2, C.sub.3H.sub.8H.sub.2S, and C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2.

27. A product produced in accordance with claim 19.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0048] For a more complete understanding of the features and advantages of the present invention, reference is now made to the detailed description of the invention along with the accompanying figures and in which:

[0049] FIGS. 1A to 1C depict the data sets and model results for five pure component adsorption isotherms: (FIG. 1A) CH.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.6, and C.sub.3H.sub.6 on activated carbon at 323 K [28], (FIG. 1B) N.sub.2 and O.sub.2 on LiLSX at 303.15 K [29], (FIG. 1C) CO.sub.2, H.sub.2S, and C.sub.3H.sub.8 on zeolite H-mordenite at 303.15 K [30];

[0050] FIGS. 2A to 2E depict the experimental data and model results for the five binary adsorption equilibrium compositions on activated carbon at 323 K and 0.1 bar [28]: (FIG. 2A) CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.4, (FIG. 2B) CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, (FIG. 2C) C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, (FIG. 2D) C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.3H.sub.6, and (FIG. 2E) C.sub.2H.sub.6C.sub.3H.sub.6;

[0051] FIG. 3 depicts the experimental data and model results for the mixed-gas adsorption of N.sub.2O.sub.2 binary mixture on LiLSX at 1.013 bar and 6.08 bar at 303.15 K [29];

[0052] FIG. 4A depicts the experimental data and the model results for mixed-gas adsorption of H.sub.2S CO.sub.2 binary mixture on zeolite H-mordenite at 303.15 K and 0.156 bar [30];

[0053] FIGS. 4B and 4C depicts the adsorption azeotropic behaviors of (FIG. 4B) C.sub.3H.sub.8H.sub.2S and (FIG. 4C) C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2 binary gas mixtures at 303.15 K on zeolite H-mordenite at 0.081 bar and 0.41 bar respectively [30];

[0054] FIG. 5A depicts the overall surface loading jumps of N.sub.2O.sub.2 on LiLSX when the system pressure jumps from 1.013 bar to 6.08 bar at 303.15 K [29];

[0055] FIGS. 5B and 5C depict the adsorbent surface area tracking for (FIG. 5B) C.sub.3H.sub.8H.sub.2S on zeolite H-mordenite at 0.081 bar and 303.15 K [30], and (FIG. 5C) C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2 on zeolite H-mordenite at 0.41 bar and 303.15 K [30];

[0056] FIGS. 6A and 6B depict the mixed-gas adsorption equilibria phase diagram for (FIG. 6A) N.sub.2O.sub.2 on LiLSX at 1.013 bar and 6.08 bar at 303.15 K [29], and (FIG. 6B) C.sub.3H.sub.8H.sub.2S at 0.081 bar and C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2 at 0.41 bar on zeolite H-mordenite at 303.15 K [30];

[0057] FIG. 7A depicts the activity coefficient of binary mixtures N.sub.2O.sub.2 on LiLSX at 1.013 bar and 6.08 bar at 303.15 K [29];

[0058] FIGS. 7B and 7C depict the activity coefficient of binary mixtures (FIG. 7B) C.sub.3H.sub.8H.sub.2S on zeolite H-mordenite at 0.081 bar and 303.15 K [30], and (FIG. 7C) C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2 on zeolite H-mordenite at 0.41 bar and 303.15 K [30];

[0059] FIGS. 8A to 8C depict the ternary mixed-gas adsorption equilibria: (FIG. 8A) CH, ()-C.sub.2H, ()-C.sub.2H, (x) on activated carbon at 323 K and 0.1 bar [28], (FIG. 8B) C.sub.2H.sub.4()-C.sub.2H, ()-C.sub.3H.sub.6 (x) on activated carbon at 323 K and 0.1 bar [28], (FIG. 8C) CO.sub.2 ()-H.sub.2S ()-C.sub.3H.sub.8 (x) on zeolite H-mordenite at 303.15 K and 0.007-0.1342 bar [30], where the blue, black, and red colors represent eL, IAST, and gL predictions, respectively;

[0060] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an apparatus or system suitable for performing the methods described herein;

[0061] FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a method for estimating an adsorption equilibria for one or more gases from pure component adsorption isotherms; and

[0062] FIG. 11 is a flow chart of a method for adsorbing one or more gases.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0063] While the making and using of various embodiments of the present invention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not delimit the scope of the invention.

[0064] To facilitate the understanding of this invention, a number of terms are defined below. Terms defined herein have meanings as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the areas relevant to the present invention. Terms such as a, an and the are not intended to refer to only a singular entity but include the general class of which a specific example may be used for illustration. The terminology herein is used to describe specific embodiments of the invention, but their usage does not limit the invention, except as outlined in the claims.

[0065] A thermodynamically consistent model to predict mixed-gas adsorption equilibria from pure gas adsorption isotherms is described herein. A generalization of thermodynamic Langmuir isotherm for pure component adsorption, the model assumes competitive adsorption of multiple adsorbates on adsorbent surface and it applies an area-based adsorption Nonrandom Two-Liquid activity coefficient model in the activity coefficient calculations for the adsorbate phase. The resulting generalized Langmuir (gL) isotherm properly captures both surface loading dependence and adsorbate phase composition dependence for mixed-gas adsorption equilibria. The model is validated with accurate representations of gas adsorption equilibrium data for wide varieties of unary, binary, and ternary gas systems. The model results are further compared with those calculated from extended Langmuir isotherm and Ideal Adsorbed Solution Theory.

Model Formulation

Generalized Langmuir Isotherm for Pure Component Adsorption

[0066] Starting from the fundamental adsorption and desorption reactions of pure adsorbate gas A on an adsorbent surface containing vacant sites S:

[00007] $\begin{matrix} A_{(g)} + S .Math. AS & (1) \end{matrix}$

The adsorption reaction with rate constant k.sub.a results in occupied sites denoted with AS. In contrast, the desorption reaction having rate constant k.sub.d results in pure gas A and vacant sites S. Once the adsorption equilibrium has been achieved, the rates of adsorption and desorption become equal as shown in Eq. (2).

[00008] $\begin{matrix} k_{a} P [S] = k_{d} [AS] & (2) \end{matrix}$

Here [S] and [AS] denote the classical Langmuir (cL) site concentrations of vacant sites and occupied sites, respectively. The occupied sites can be expressed in the amount adsorbed for adsorbate component 1, n.sub.1. The vacant sites can be represented as (n.sub.1.sup.0n.sub.1), where n.sub.1.sup.0 is the saturation amount adsorbed for component 1. The apparent adsorption equilibrium constant K.sub.1 can be expressed as a function of the adsorbate phase site concentrations as:

[00009] $\begin{matrix} K_{1} = \frac{k_{o}}{k_{d}} = \frac{[AS]}{P [S]} = \frac{n_{1}}{P (n_{1}^{0} - n_{1})} = \frac{x_{1}}{P (1 - x_{1})} & (3) \end{matrix}$

where x.sub.1 is the ratio of n.sub.1 and n.sub.1.sup.0. Simplification of Eq. (3) for x.sub.1 yields the classical Langmuir isotherm shown in Eq. (4):

[00010] $\begin{matrix} \frac{n_{1}}{n_{1}^{0}} = \frac{K_{1} P}{1 + K_{1} P} & (4) \end{matrix}$

[0067] The classical Langmuir isotherm disregards the adsorbent surface heterogeneity upon assuming the rates of adsorption and desorption are proportional to the site concentrations. Chang et al. [22] proposed the thermodynamic Langmuir isotherm to address the surface heterogeneity by substituting the site concentrations with the site activities expressed as the product of site concentration and site activity coefficient as shown in Eq. (5), leading to the thermodynamic Langmuir isotherm expressed as Eq. (6):

[00011] $\begin{matrix} K_{1}^{o} = \frac{x_{1}_{1}}{_{} x_{} P} & (5) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} \frac{n_{1}}{n_{1}^{0}} = \frac{K_{1}^{o} P}{\frac{_{1}}{_{}} + K_{1}^{o} P} & (6) \end{matrix}$

where K.sub.1.sup.o is the intrinsic adsorption equilibrium constant of adsorbate component 1, x.sub.1 is the ratio of n.sub.1 and n.sub.1.sup.0, and x.sub., representing the vacant site fraction on the adsorbent surface, is calculated as (1x.sub.1). y.sub.1 is the activity coefficient of component 1 on the occupied sites and .sub. is the activity coefficient of phantom molecule on the vacant sites. The reference state for adsorbate component 1 is the adsorbate phase fully occupied with component 1 while the reference state for the phantom molecule is the absorbate phase with vacant sites only.

[0068] In addition to addressing the surface heterogeneity, this work further proposes that there is a constant total adsorbent surface area, A.sup.o, which is covered with adsorbate component 1 with the effective molecular area, A.sub.1. The adsorbate phase area fraction covered with component 1, .sub.1, is a function of A.sup.o, A.sub.1, and n.sub.1, expressed as:

[00012] $\begin{matrix} n_{T} = n_{1} + n_{} & (7) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} x_{1} = \frac{n_{1}}{n_{T}} & (8) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} x_{} = \frac{n_{}}{n_{T}} & (9) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} _{1} = \frac{n_{1} A_{1}}{A^{o}} & (10) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} _{} = \frac{n_{} A_{}}{A^{o}} & (11) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} A^{o} = n_{1} A_{1} + n_{} A_{} = n_{1}^{0} A_{1} = n_{}^{0} A_{} & (12) \end{matrix}$

where n.sub. and n.sub..sup.0 are the remaining amount and the maximum amount of vacant sites, respectively, A.sub. is the effective area of phantom molecule , with nitrogen chosen as the model molecule for . x.sub.1 is the ratio of n.sub.1 and n.sub.T referred as the adsorbate phase mole fraction of component 1, and x.sub. is the ratio of n.sub. and n.sub.T and referred as the adsorbate phase mole fraction of vacant sites. While A.sup.o remains constant, the occupied site area fraction, .sub.1, and the vacant site area fraction, .sub., change with respect to the loading of component 1. Upon considering both the site activities and the site area fractions, the generalized Langmuir isotherm is expressed in Eqs. (13)-(14) for adsorbate component 1 and vacant site area fractions:

[00013] $\begin{matrix} _{1} = \frac{n_{1} A_{1}}{A^{o}} = \frac{K_{1}^{o} P}{\frac{_{1}}{_{} q_{1}} + K_{1}^{o} P} & (13) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} _{} = \frac{n_{} A_{}}{A^{o}} = \frac{1}{1 + \frac{_{} q_{1}}{_{1}} K_{1}^{o} P} & (14) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} q_{1} = \frac{A_{1}}{A_{}} & (15) \end{matrix}$

Here, q.sub.1 is the ratio of effective area of component 1 and the effective area of phantom molecule and it should depend on the adsorbent surface characteristics, adsorption temperature, and the local minimal energy adsorbate molecular configuration on the adsorbent surface. [26] .sub.1 and .sub. are the activity coefficients of component 1 and phantom molecule, respectively, which are functions of x.sub.1, x.sub., A.sub.1, and A.sub.. Eq. (13) reduces to the thermodynamic Langmuir (tL) isotherm, Eq. (6), when the effective area of adsorbate is same as the effective area of phantom molecule. Eq. (13) further reduces to the classical Langmuir isotherm, Eq. (4), when both the effective area of adsorbate and the effective area of phantom molecule are same and the activity coefficients are unity.

Generalized Langmuir Isotherm for Mixed-Gas Adsorption

[0069] The generalized Langmuir isotherm for pure component adsorption can be readily extended for mixed-gas adsorption. For a competitive adsorption of multiple adsorbates on a constant monolayer adsorption surface area, A, the corresponding generalized Langmuir isotherm equations for mixed-gas adsorption equilibria can be expressed as:

[00014] $\begin{matrix} K_{i}^{o} = \frac{x_{i}_{i}}{_{} x_{} {Py}_{i}} & (16) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} n_{T} = {.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n} n_{i} + n_{} & (17) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} x_{i} = \frac{n_{i}}{n_{T}} & (18) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} x_{} = \frac{n_{}}{n_{T}} & (19) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} {.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n} x_{i} + x_{} = 1 & (20) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} _{i} = \frac{n_{i} A_{i}}{A^{o}} & (21) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} _{} = \frac{n_{} A_{}}{A^{o}} & (22) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} A^{o} = {.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n} n_{i} A_{i} + n_{} A_{} = n_{i}^{0} A_{i} = n_{}^{0} A_{} & (23) \end{matrix}$

where .sub.i is the gas phase mole fraction of adsorbate component i, n is the number of adsorbates, n.sub.T is the sum of the total amount adsorbed of all adsorbates and the remaining amount of vacant sites. .sub.i is the adsorbate phase area fraction covered with component i, and .sub. is the adsorbate phase vacant site area fraction. Eq. (16) defines the intrinsic adsorption equilibrium constant of component i while Eqs. (17)-(20) express the adsorbate phase mole fractions of component i and vacant sites and their relationships. Eqs. (21) and (22) track the adsorbate phase area fractions occupied by adsorbate component i and vacant sites, respectively. Eq. (23) shows, while the total adsorbent surface area, A.sup.o, remains constant, the occupied area for component i, n.sub.iA.sub.i and the are for vacant sites, n.sub.A.sub., vary with loading and adsorbate phase compositions.

[0070] Rearrangement of Eqs. (16)-(20) in combination with Eqs. (21)-(22) results in the generalized Langmuir isotherm equations for mixed-gas adsorption equilibria as presented in Eqs. (24) and (25).

[00015] $\begin{matrix} _{i} = \frac{n_{1} A_{1}}{A^{o}} = \frac{K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}{\frac{_{i}}{_{} q_{i}} + {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} \frac{_{i} q_{j}}{_{j} q_{i}} K_{j}^{o} y_{j} P} & (24) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} _{} = \frac{n_{} A_{}}{A^{o}} = \frac{1}{1 + {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} \frac{_{} q_{j}}{_{j}} K_{j}^{o} y_{j} P} & (25) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} q_{i} = \frac{A_{i}}{A_{}} & (26) \end{matrix}$

Here, q.sub.i is the ratio of effective area of component i and effective area of phantom molecule, .sub.i and .sub. represent the activity coefficients of component i and vacant sites, respectively, which are functions of x.sub.i's, x.sub., A.sub.i's, and A.sub.. In summary, solving n number of Eq. (24) for n number of adsorbates coupled with Eq. (25) for n.sub. along with an appropriate activity coefficient model results in the generalized Langmuir isotherm for mixed-gas adsorption equilibria. The generalized Langmuir isotherm reduces to the extended Langmuir isotherm, shown in Eq. (27), if the following two conditions are satisfied: 1) the adsorbate and vacant site effective areas are the same, i.e., A.sub.1=A.sub.2= . . . =A.sub.i=A.sub., or equivalently, the saturation loadings of adsorbates and phantom molecule are same, i.e., n.sub.1.sup.0=n.sub.2.sup.0= . . . =n.sub.i=n.sub.0.sup.0, and 2) the adsorbate phase activity coefficients are unity. Devoid of the simplifying assumptions of the extended Langmuir isotherm, the generalized Langmuir isotherm provides a thermodynamically consistent generalization of the extended Langmuir expression.

[00016] $\begin{matrix} \frac{n_{i}}{n_{i}^{0}} = \frac{K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}{1 + {.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n} K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P} & (27) \end{matrix}$

Area-Based Multicomponent aNRTL Model

[0071] The original adsorption NRTL model derived from the two-fluid theory does not take into account the effective areas of adsorbates and phantom molecule on the adsorbate phase. [21] To make aNRTL model consistent with the generalized Langmuir model formulation, the aNRTL model formulation has been revisited to incorporate the adsorbate area fractions. The derivation of area-based aNRTL model is provided below.

[0072] Consider an adsorbent surface containing energetically non-interacting multiple adsorption sites where each site 0 is surrounded with the molecules of n number of adsorbates. To address the local composition of multicomponent adsorbate phase, Nonrandom two-liquid theory [36] has been implied while incorporating the size of adsorbates. So, the sum of local area fractions of n adsorbates around the adsorbent site 0 shall be unity, written as:

[00017] $\begin{matrix} {.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n}_{i 0} = 1 & (28) \end{matrix}$

Here, .sub.i0 is the local area fractions of ith adsorbate near the adsorbent site 0 that can be expressed in the form of area fraction and mole fraction as follow:

[00018] $\begin{matrix} _{i 0} = \frac{_{i} \exp (- \frac{g_{i 0}}{RT})}{{.Math.}_{k = 1}^{n}_{k} \exp (- \frac{g_{k 0}}{RT})} = \frac{_{i} \exp (- \frac{g_{i 0} - g_{00}}{RT})}{{.Math.}_{k = 1}^{n}_{k} \exp (- \frac{g_{k 0} - g_{00}}{RT})} = \frac{_{i} G_{i 0}}{{.Math.}_{k = 1}^{n}_{k} G_{k 0}} & (29) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} _{i} = \frac{x_{i} q_{i}}{{.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n} x_{i} q_{i}} & (30) \end{matrix}$

Here, g.sub.i indicates the interaction energy between the ith adsorbate and the adsorption site. denotes the non-randomness factor and q.sub.i is the effective area of the ith adsorbate.

[0073] To derive the expression for molar excess Gibbs energy for area based aNRTL model, the multicomponent adsorbate system is treated with the two-liquid theory. [37] Starting from the sum of changes of residual Gibbs energy of the adsorbate phase:

[00019] $\begin{matrix} g^{mix} = {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} = x_{j} q_{j} g^{(r)} & (31) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} g^{E} = {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} x_{j} q_{j} ({.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n}_{i 0} g_{i 0} - g_{j 0}) & (32) \end{matrix}$

Here g is the residual Gibbs energy. Now, using Eq. (29) and (32) results in:

[00020] $\begin{matrix} g^{E} = {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} x_{j} q_{j} {.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n} g_{i 0} \frac{_{i} \exp (- \frac{g_{i 0}}{RT})}{{.Math.}_{k = 1}^{n}_{k} \exp (- \frac{g_{k 0}}{RT})} - {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} x_{j} q_{j} g_{j 0} & (33) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} g^{E} = \frac{{.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n} x_{i} q_{i} \exp (- \frac{g_{i 0}}{RT}) .Math. [{.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} x_{j} q_{j} g_{i 0} - {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} x_{j} q_{j} g_{j 0}]}{{.Math.}_{k - 1}^{n} x_{k} q_{k} \exp (- \frac{g_{k 0}}{RT})} & (34) \end{matrix}$

Eq. (34) can be simplified to Eq. (35):

[00021] $\begin{matrix} \frac{g^{E}}{RT} = {.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n} x_{i} q_{i} G_{i 0} \frac{{.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} x_{j} q_{j} [\frac{g_{i 0} - g_{j 0}}{RT}]}{{.Math.}_{k = 1}^{n} x_{k} q_{k} G_{k 0}} & (35) \end{matrix}$

Simplification of Eq. (35) results in the final expression of Gibbs energy for multicomponent adsorbate systems, written as:

[00022] $\begin{matrix} \frac{g^{E}}{RT} = {.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n} x_{i} q_{i} \frac{{.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} x_{j} q_{j}_{ij}}{{.Math.}_{k = 1}^{n} x_{k} q_{k} G_{k i}} & (36) \end{matrix}$

Afterwards, the activity coefficients are related to the partial molar excess Gibbs energy expressed as follow:

[00023] $\begin{matrix} \ln_{i} = \frac{}{n_{i}} {[\frac{n_{T} g^{E}}{RT}]}_{T,, n_{j i}} & (37) \end{matrix}$

Rearranging Eq. (36) and then substituting in Eq. (37) results in:

[00024] $\begin{matrix} \frac{n_{T} g^{E}}{RT} = \underset{p}{.Math.} n_{p} q_{p} \frac{\underset{j}{.Math.} n_{j} q_{j}_{pj}}{\underset{k}{.Math.} n_{k} q_{k} G_{kp}} & (38) \end{matrix}$

[00025] $\begin{matrix} \frac{n_{T} g^{E}}{RT} = \underset{1^{st} term}{\underset{}{n_{i} q_{i} \frac{\underset{j}{.Math.} n_{j} q_{j}_{ij}}{\underset{k}{.Math.} n_{k} q_{k} G_{ki}}}} + \underset{2^{nd} term}{\underset{}{\underset{p i}{.Math.} n_{p} q_{p} \frac{\underset{j}{.Math.} n_{j} q_{j}_{pj}}{\underset{k}{.Math.} n_{k} q_{k} G_{kp}}}} & (39) \end{matrix}$

Here, p=j=k=1, 2, 3, . . . , i, . . . , m. Now, taking the derivative of Eq. (39) with respect to ng at constant T, , and n.sub.ji;

[00026] $\begin{matrix} \frac{}{n_{i}} {[\frac{n_{T} g^{E}}{RT}]}_{1^{st} term} = - n_{i} q_{i}^{2} .Math. \frac{\underset{j}{.Math.} n_{j} q_{j}_{ij}}{{(\underset{k}{.Math.} n_{k} q_{k} G_{ki})}^{2}} + q_{i} .Math. \frac{\underset{j}{.Math.} n_{j} q_{j}_{ij}}{\underset{k}{.Math.} n_{k} q_{k} G_{ki}} & (40) \end{matrix}$

Upon simplification, Eq. (40) can be written as:

[00027] $\begin{matrix} \frac{}{n_{i}} {[\frac{n_{T} g^{E}}{RT}]}_{1^{st} term} = - n_{i} q_{i}^{2} .Math. \frac{\underset{j}{.Math.} n_{j} q_{j}_{ij}}{{(\underset{k}{.Math.} n_{k} q_{k} G_{ki})}^{2}} + q_{i} .Math. \frac{\underset{j}{.Math.} n_{j} q_{j}_{ij} G_{ij}}{\underset{k}{.Math.} n_{k} q_{k} G_{kj}} & (41) \end{matrix}$

Now, taking the partial derivative of 2.sup.nd term as expressed in Eq. (41):

[00028] $\begin{matrix} \frac{}{n_{i}} {[\frac{n_{T} g^{E}}{RT}]}_{2^{nd} term} = \underset{p i}{.Math.} n_{p} q_{p} (\frac{\underset{k}{.Math.} n_{k} q_{k} G_{kp} .Math. q_{i}_{pi} - \underset{j}{.Math.} n_{j} q_{j}_{pj} .Math. q_{i} G_{ip}}{{(\underset{k}{.Math.} n_{k} q_{k} G_{kp})}^{2}}) & (42) \end{matrix}$

Upon simplification of Eq. (42), the resulting expressions are:

[00029] $\begin{matrix} \frac{}{n_{i}} {[\frac{n_{T} g^{E}}{RT}]}_{2^{nd} term} = q_{i} \frac{\underset{p i}{.Math.} [\underset{j i}{.Math.} n_{p} q_{p} G_{p 0} .Math. n_{j} q_{j} (_{pi} G_{j 0} -_{pj} G_{i 0})]}{{(\underset{k}{.Math.} n_{k} q_{k} G_{k 0})}^{2}} & (43) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} \frac{}{n_{i}} {[\frac{n_{T} g^{E}}{RT}]}_{2^{nd} term} = q_{i} \underset{j}{.Math.} n_{j} q_{j} \frac{\underset{p}{.Math.} n_{p} q_{p} G_{pj} (_{pi} -_{pj} G_{ij})}{{(\underset{k}{.Math.} n_{k} q_{k} G_{k_{j}})}^{2}} + q_{i} \underset{j}{.Math.} n_{j} q_{j} \frac{n_{i} q_{i}_{ij} G_{ij}^{2}}{{(\underset{k}{.Math.} n_{k} q_{k} G_{kj})}^{2}} & (44) \end{matrix}$

Now, combining Eq. (41) and (44) results in:

[00030] $\begin{matrix} \ln_{i} = q_{i} \underset{j}{.Math.} n_{j} q_{j} [\frac{_{ij} G_{ij}}{\underset{k}{.Math.} n_{k} q_{k} G_{kj}} + \frac{\underset{p}{.Math.} n_{p} q_{p} G_{pj} (_{pi} -_{pj} G_{ij})}{{(\underset{k}{.Math.} n_{k} q_{k} G_{kj})}^{2}}] & (45) \end{matrix}$

Simplification of Eq. (45) provides the final expression of activity coefficient of component i in the multicomponent gas adsorption equilibria system.

[00031] $\begin{matrix} \ln_{i} = \frac{}{n_{i}} {[\frac{n_{T} g^{E}}{RT}]}_{T,, n_{j i}} = q_{i} \frac{{.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} x_{j}^{2} q_{j}^{2}_{ij} [G_{ij} - 1]}{{({.Math.}_{k = 1}^{n} x_{k} q_{k} G_{kj})}^{2}} & (46) \end{matrix}$

Here, q.sub.i=A.sub.i/A.sub. is the ratio of effective adsorbate area of component i and that of the model molecule (nitrogen) for phantom molecule, and x.sub.i is the adsorbate phase mole fraction of component i.

[00032] $\begin{matrix} _{ij} = -_{ji} = \frac{g_{i 0} - g_{j 0}}{RT} & (47) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} G_{ij} = \frac{1}{G_{ji}} = \exp (-_{ij}) & (48) \end{matrix}$

[0074] It is worth noting that the gL isotherm treats the adsorbent as a part of the adsorption system. In other words, the adsorbate phase of a single component gas adsorption system is treated as a binary system of adsorbate component 1 and phantom molecule for adsorbent vacant sites with the composition of (x.sub.1, x.sub.). Likewise, the adsorbate phase of a binary gas adsorption system is treated as a ternary system of two adsorbates and phantom molecule with the composition of (x.sub.1, x.sub.2, x.sub.). For a mixed-gas adsorption system with n components, adsorbent vacant sites or phantom molecule included in the mixture, the excess Gibbs energy expression for the adsorbate phase is:

[00033] $\begin{matrix} \frac{g^{E}}{RT} = {.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n} x_{i} q_{i} \frac{{.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} x_{j} q_{j}_{ij}}{{.Math.}_{k = 1}^{n} x_{k} q_{k} G_{ki}} & (49) \end{matrix}$

The corresponding activity coefficient expression is given in Eq. (50):

[00034] $\begin{matrix} \ln_{i} = q_{i} \frac{\overset{n}{\underset{j = 1}{.Math.}} x_{j}^{2} q_{j}^{2}_{ij} [G_{ij} - 1]}{{({.Math.}_{k = 1}^{n} x_{k} q_{k} G_{kj})}^{2}} & (50) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} _{ij} = -_{ji} = \frac{g_{i 0} - g_{j 0}}{RT} & (51) \end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix} G_{ij} = \exp (-_{ij}) & (52) \end{matrix}$

where is the nonrandomness factor fixed at 0.3 and .sub.ij's are the adjustable binary interaction parameters for the i-j pair, with .sub.ij=.sub.ji. In short, the area-based adsorption NRTL activity coefficients are functions of x.sub.i's, x.sub., A.sub.i's, and A.sub., and .sub.ij's.

Results and Discussion

Pure Component Adsorption Isotherm

[0075] Accurate representation of experimental pure component adsorption isotherm data is the first step towards successful modeling of mixed-gas adsorption equilibria. The classical Langmuir (cL), thermodynamic Langmuir (tL), and generalized Langmuir (gL) models are used herein to represent pure component adsorption isotherms. Requiring no activity coefficient calculations, cL makes use of two model parameters (K.sub.i and n.sub.i.sup.0). In contrast, both tL and gL isotherms require three model parameters (.sub.i, K.sub.i.sup.o, and n.sub.i.sup.0). For internal consistency, the original aNRTL model [21] is used in the activity coefficient calculation for tL and the area-based aNRTL model presented above is used with gL. Note that, with literature reported values for A.sup.o and A.sub.i the n.sub.i.sup.0 parameter in gL can be calculated per Eq. (23) and leave gL with only two adjustable model parameters, i.e., .sub.i and K.sub.i.sup.o. The effective areas in gL, A.sub.i's, are notably dependent on adsorbent, adsorption temperature, and the configuration of adsorbate molecule on the adsorbent surface. [26] The recommended effective areas of adsorbates and adsorbent surface areas are available in the literature. [26] To regress the adsorption isotherm parameters, a Maximum Likelihood Principle-based objective function is minimized, [27] given as follow:

[00035] $\begin{matrix} Obj = \underset{i}{.Math.} {(\frac{n_{i}^{calc} - n_{i}^{expt}}{^{expt}})}^{2} & (53) \end{matrix}$

where indicates the standard deviation of the experimental data set to 0.05 mol/kg while n.sub.i.sup.calc and n.sub.i.sup.expt denote the calculated and experimentally measured adsorption amounts. To evaluate the performance of isotherm fitting, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) is used, and it is expressed as:

[00036] $\begin{matrix} RMSE = \sqrt{\frac{\underset{i}{.Math.} {(n_{i}^{calc} - n_{i}^{expt})}^{2}}{N}} & (54) \end{matrix}$

where N represents the total number of data points.

[0076] Nine pure component adsorption isotherm data sets are selected to support subsequent mixed-gas adsorption equilibria studies and they have been used to identify the model parameters of cL, tL, and gL pure component isotherms. These data include adsorption isotherms of CH.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.6, and C.sub.3H.sub.6 on activated carbon at 323 K, [28] N.sub.2 and O.sub.2 on LiLSX at 303.15 K [29], and CO.sub.2, H.sub.2S, and C.sub.3H.sub.8 on zeolite H-mordenite at 303.15 K [30]. The graphical representation of these data sets and the model results are shown in the FIGS. 1A to 1C. The corresponding regression results are summarized in Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3 for cL, tL, and gL, respectively. Note that the identification of tL isotherm parameters for systems involving only data in the Henry's law region, i.e., at low relative pressures, is more challenging due to lack of information on saturation capacities. For example, the much higher uncertainty in estimating n.sub.i.sup.0 parameter of tL for O.sub.2 on LiLSX, as shown in Table 2, can be attributed to the fact that the experimental data are limited to the Henry's law region.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Regressed parameters for classical Langmuir isotherm T K n.sub.i.sup.0 RMSE Adsorbent Adsorbate (K) (bar.sup.1) (mol/kg) (mol/kg) Ref. Activated CH.sub.4 323 0.402 0.265 1.44 0.70 0.003 [28] Carbon C.sub.2H.sub.4 323 2.265 0.196 2.14 0.09 0.041 C.sub.2H.sub.6 323 2.511 0.271 2.13 0.10 0.046 C.sub.3H.sub.6 323 9.020 0.366 2.96 0.04 0.143 LiLSX N.sub.2 303.15 0.435 0.029 2.54 0.07 0.013 [29] O.sub.2 303.15 0.046 0.029 3.70 0.07 0.011 Zeolite H- CO.sub.2 303.15 7.459 0.054 2.41 0.01 0.129 [30] mordenite H.sub.2S 303.15 102.193 3.584 2.14 0.02 0.120 C.sub.3H.sub.8 303.15 33.413 0.754 1.12 0.01 0.107

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Regressed parameters for thermodynamic Langmuir isotherm T K.sub.i.sup.o n.sub.i.sup.o RMSE Adsorbent Adsorbate (K) (bar.sup.1) (mol/kg) .sub.i (mol/kg) Ref. Activated CH.sub.4 323 0.402 1.44 0.02 0.003 [28] Carbon 0.292 0.78 8.06 C.sub.2H.sub.4 323 0.148 6.73 2.18 0.014 0.398 6.63 0.79 C.sub.2H.sub.6 323 0.193 6.13 2.21 0.021 0.480 5.55 0.71 C.sub.3H.sub.6 323 0.942 6.67 2.52 0.028 0.732 1.95 0.39 LiLSX N.sub.2 303.15 0.344 2.83 0.91 0.006 [29] 0.047 0.17 0.16 O.sub.2 303.15 0.0033 15.01 1.77 0.011 0.045 85.14 4.56 Zeolite H- CO.sub.2 303.15 1.632 4.14 2.42 0.016 [30] Mordenite 0.544 0.44 0.11 H.sub.2S 303.15 75.082 2.78 3.09 0.022 10.181 0.11 0.19 C.sub.3H.sub.8 303.15 41.038 1.27 3.02 0.050 4.537 0.05 0.11

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Regressed parameters for generalized Langmuir isotherm T K.sub.i.sup.o n.sub.i.sup.o RMSE A.sub.i Adsorbent Adsorbate (K) (bar.sup.1) (mol/kg) .sub.i (mol/kg) (nm.sup.2) Ref. Activated CH.sub.4 323 0.017 7.27 ** 1.99 0.003 0.160 .sup.33 [28] Carbon 0.015 0.56 C.sub.2H.sub.4 323 0.192 5.17 ** 2.14 0.014 0.225 .sup.33 0.094 0.17 C.sub.2H.sub.6 323 0.196 5.17 ** 1.85 0.021 0.225 .sup.33 0.104 0.17 C.sub.3H.sub.6 323 2.121 3.88 ** 1.59 0.046 0.300 .sup.32 1.793 0.34 LiLSX N.sub.2 303.15 0.344 2.83 0.91 0.006 0.162 .sup.26 [29] 0.047 0.17 0.16 O.sub.2 303.15 0.062 3.25 ** 0.02 0.012 0.141 .sup.26 0.024 1.59 Zeolite H- CO.sub.2 303.15 1.619 4.14 2.42 0.016 0.163 .sup.26 [30] Mordenite 0.544 0.44 0.11 H.sub.2S 303.15 26.553 3.21 ** 3.10 0.028 0.210 .sup.35 27.009 0.51 C.sub.2H 303.15 0.877 2.25 ** 3.74 + 0.113 0.300 .sup.32 2.477 1.97 ** n.sub.i.sup.o is calculated from A.sup.o

[0077] The results show both tL and gL perform much better than cL. In addition, while tL and gL show very similar RMSE's in fitting the data, some of the values of tL isotherm parameter n.sub.i.sup.0 seem unreasonable. For example, the regressed tL n.sub.i.sup.0 value for CH.sub.4 adsorbed on activated carbon is exceedingly small and only a fraction (20%) of that of C.sub.2H.sub.4. In contrast, given a constant A.sup.o for an adsorbent, the values of gL isotherm parameter n.sub.i.sup.0 are inversely proportional to the values of A.sub.i. Note that the adsorbate saturation loadings, i.e., n.sub.i.sup.0's, on activated carbon shown in Table 3 are calculated from the reported adsorbent surface area of

[00037] $700 \frac{m^{2}}{g} [28, 31]$

and the corresponding adsorbate effective areas in the literature [32, 33]. For LiLSX, A.sub.i is known for N.sub.2 [26], n.sub.i.sup.0 for N.sub.2 is fitted to the isotherm data, and A.sup.o is then calculated to be

[00038] $276 \frac{m^{2}}{g} .$

For zeolite H-mordenite, A.sub.i is known for CO.sub.2 [26], n.sub.i.sup.0 for CO.sub.2 is fitted to the isotherm data, and A.sup.o is then calculated to be

[00039] $406 \frac{m^{2}}{g},$

consistent with the literature value of

[00040] $\begin{matrix} 429 \frac{m^{2}}{g} . & [34] \end{matrix}$

Binary Mixed-Gas Adsorption Equilibria

[0078] Ten binary mixed-gas adsorption systems have been investigated with eL, IAST, and gL. The regressed gL parameters and the corresponding RMSE's for all the binary mixed-gas adsorption systems with the three models are reported in Table 4. For internal model consistency, the cL model is used to calculate pure component adsorption isotherms in the eL calculations for mixed-gas adsorption equilibria. The tL model is used to calculate pure component adsorption isotherms and the corresponding spreading pressures in the IAST calculations. In contrast, the gL isotherm is used in both pure component adsorption isotherms and mixed-gas adsorption equilibria.

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Model results for binary mixed-gas adsorption equilibria T P IAST eL gL Adsorbent Adsorbates (K) (bar) RMSE RMSE .sub.12 RMSE Ref. Activated CH.sub.4(1)C.sub.2H.sub.4(2) 323 0.1 0.059 0.114 0 0.062 [28] Carbon CH.sub.4(1)C.sub.2H.sub.6(2) 323 0.1 0.161 0.233 0 0.163 C.sub.2H.sub.4(1)C.sub.2H.sub.6(2) 323 0.1 0.041 0.061 0.54 0.044 0.00 C.sub.2H.sub.4(1)C.sub.3H.sub.6(2) 323 0.1 0.080 0.196 1.34 0.084 0.00 C.sub.2H.sub.6(1)C.sub.3H.sub.6(2) 323 0.1 0.040 0.128 2.36 0.036 0.01 LiLSX N.sub.2(1)O.sub.2(2) 303.15 1.013 0.013 0.004 1.83 0.005 [29] 0.00 N.sub.2(1)O.sub.2(2) 303.15 6.080 0.015 0.028 1.83 0.001 0.00 Zeolite H- H.sub.2S (1)CO.sub.2(2) 303.15 0.156 0.049 0.044 2.95 0.013 [30] mordenite 0.00 C.sub.3H.sub.8 (1)H.sub.2S(2) 303.15 0.081 0.145 0.181 3.93 0.038 0.00 C.sub.3H.sub.8 (1)CO.sub.2(2) 303.15 0.410 0.162 0.212 4.87 0.085 0.00

[0079] Five binary mixed-gas adsorption of hydrocarbons on activated carbon at 323 K and 0.1 bar [28] are investigated. gL estimations accurately match the experimental data and outperform eL predictions for the five binary systems of CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.4, CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.3H.sub.6, and C.sub.2H.sub.6C.sub.3H.sub.6. RMSEs of IAST and gL are same for all five binary systems on activated carbon.

[0080] FIGS. 2A to 2E show the experimental data [28] and the model results for the five binary systems on activated carbon at 323 K and 0.1 bar [28]: (FIG. 2A) CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.4, (FIG. 2B) CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, (FIG. 2C) C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, (FIG. 2D) C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.3H.sub.6, and (FIG. 2E) C.sub.2H.sub.6C.sub.3H.sub.6. The eL predictions deviate much from the experimental adsorbate phase composition while the IAST and gL results match or are close to the data. Note that the adsorbate phase mole fractions, x, calculated from gL with Eqs. (18)-(19) are referred as true adsorbate phase mole fractions and they can be transformed to apparent adsorbate phase mole fractions, x.sub.i, upon renormalization with x.sub. excluded. Apparent adsorbate phase mole fractions are used to generate all the figures herein.

[0081] FIG. 3 presents the experimental data [29] and the model results for the mixed-gas adsorption of N.sub.2O.sub.2 binary mixture on LiLSX at pressure of 1.013 bar and 6.08 bar at 303.15 K..sup.29 While eL satisfactorily predicts the mixed-gas adsorption equilibria at 1.013 bar, eL does not address the system pressure effect and its predictions for 6.08 bar remain unchanged from those for 1.013 bar and significantly depart from the experimental data. Although the IAST predictions show correct pressure dependence, the IAST predictions for both 1.013 bar and 6.08 bar deviate from the experimental data. Interestingly, gL successfully correlates the adsorption equilibria data at 6.08 bar with .sub.12=1.83, and then accurately predicts the adsorption equilibria at 1.013 bar.

[0082] FIG. 4A shows the experimental data [30] and the model results for mixed-gas adsorption of H.sub.2SCO.sub.2 binary mixture on zeolite H-mordenite at 303.15 K and 0.156 bar. Neither IAST nor eL predict the adsorption behavior while gL accurately correlates the mixed-gas adsorption equilibria with .sub.12=2.95. FIG. 4B and FIG. 4C show the adsorption azeotropic behaviors of C.sub.3H.sub.8H.sub.2S and C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2 binary gas mixtures at 303.15 K on zeolite H-mordenite at 0.081 bar and 0.41 bar, respectively. For these azeotropes-forming systems, both IAST and eL fail to predict the azeotropic behaviors while gL reliably captures the adsorption azeotropes with .sub.12=3.93 for the C.sub.3H.sub.8H.sub.2S binary and .sub.12=4.87 for the C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2 binary.

Estimate Surface Loading from Adsorption Equilibria

[0083] The unique feature of gL to consider adsorbent as a part of adsorption system makes the tracking of adsorbent surface loading possible. For the adsorption of N.sub.2O.sub.2 binary on LiLSX at 1.013 bar and 6.08 bar and at 303.15 K [29], FIG. 5A shows the overall surface loading jumps when the system pressure changes from 1.013 bar (black lines denoted as 502) to 6.08 bar (red lines denoted as 504). It further shows that at low pressure, i.e., 1.013 bar, N.sub.2 adsorption and O.sub.2 adsorption are relatively independent of each other. As the gas phase N.sub.2 mole fraction increases, the N.sub.2 adsorbate phase area fraction increases linearly, albeit with a slight positive deviation, while the O.sub.2 adsorbate phase area fraction declines linearly. At high pressure, i.e., 6.08 bar, the adsorption competition between O.sub.2 and N.sub.2 strengthens. The slight positive deviation from the linear relationship for the N.sub.2 adsorbate phase area fraction vs the gas phase N.sub.2 mole fraction is magnified while the O.sub.2 adsorbate phase area fraction shows negative deviation from the linear relationship.

[0084] For the two binary mixtures exhibiting azeotropic behavior, i.e., C.sub.3H.sub.8H.sub.2S binary on zeolite H-mordenite at 0.081 bar and 303.15 K [30] and C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2 binary on zeolite H-mordenite at 0.41 bar and 303.15 K [30], FIG. 5B and FIG. 5C show both H.sub.2S and CO.sub.2 adsorptions drop as their gas phase mole fractions drop while, responsible for the azeotropic behavior, the C.sub.3H.sub.8 adsorbate phase area fractions show logit S-shape behavior as the gas phase C.sub.3H.sub.8 mole fractions increase. Interestingly, both these two azeotrope-forming systems exhibit a maximum total absorbent surface coverage at the azeotropes.

[0085] The mixed-gas adsorption equilibria phase diagram analogous to P-xy phase diagram in vapor-liquid equilibria can be generated from gL. FIG. 6A shows the -xy phase diagrams of N.sub.2O.sub.2 binary at 1.013 bar (lower pair of black lines denoted as 602) and 6.08 bar (upper pair of red lines denoted as 604) on LiLSX at 303.15 K. Here is the overall surface loading, i.e., (.sub.1+.sub.2). The -xy phase diagram of N.sub.2O.sub.2 binary at 1.013 bar shows nearly Raoult's law type phase diagram and the nonideality is much enhanced for the system at 6.08 bar. FIG. 6B shows the -xy phase diagrams of C.sub.3H.sub.8H.sub.2S binary at 0.081 bar (upper pair of black lines denoted as 606) and C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2 binary at 0.41 bar (lower pair of red lines denoted as 608) on zeolite H-mordenite at 303.15 K. At azeotropes, the systems exhibit maximum overall surface loading and the apparent adsorbate phase component mole fractions equal to the gas phase component mole fractions.

Estimate Activity Coefficients from Adsorption Equilibria

[0086] Besides tracking the adsorbent surface loading, gL captures the adsorbent surface heterogeneity by tracking the adsorbate phase activity coefficients of adsorbates and vacant sites. As previously mentioned, full adsorbent surface coverage of pure adsorbate molecules is defined as the reference state for adsorbates. For the adsorption of N.sub.2O.sub.2 binary on LiLSX at 1.013 (black lines denoted as 702) and 6.08 bar (red lines denoted as 704), and 303.15 K [29], FIG. 7A shows the activity coefficients of adsorbates and vacant sites as function of apparent adsorbate phase N.sub.2 mole fraction. With .sub.10 for O.sub.2, activity coefficients for O.sub.2 and vacant sites remain close to unity until the adsorbent surface is significantly covered with N.sub.2. On the other hand, activity coefficient for N.sub.2 increases and approaches unity as the N.sub.2 adsorbate phase area fraction increases with increasing apparent adsorbate phase mole fraction and system pressure.

[0087] FIG. 7B and FIG. 7C show the activity coefficients of adsorbates and vacant sites as function of apparent adsorbate phase C.sub.3H.sub.8 mole fraction for the C.sub.3H.sub.8H.sub.2S binary on zeolite H-mordenite at 0.081 bar and 303.15 K [30] and the C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2 binary at 0.41 bar and 303.15 K [30]. With t=3.74 for C.sub.3H.sub.8, the activity coefficient of C.sub.3H.sub.8 at infinite dilution is very small for both binary systems, indicative of strong attractive interaction between the adsorbate and the adsorbent. The activity coefficient of C.sub.3H.sub.8 then increases sharply and reaches a plateau as its apparent adsorbate phase mole fraction increases. As expected, the corresponding activity coefficients of CO.sub.2 and H.sub.2S in their respective binary adsorption systems with C.sub.3H.sub.8 are close to unity (0.8) when their apparent adsorbate phase mole fractions are unity. The activity coefficients then drop to around 0.1 as their respective apparent adsorbate phase mole fraction approaches zero. The activity coefficients of vacant sites remain relatively unchanged since the overall surface loadings, 's, stay relatively constant. The vacant sites activity coefficients hover around 0.4 to 0.5 for the C.sub.3H.sub.8H.sub.2S binary and drop from 0.7 to 0.3 for the C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2 binary as the C.sub.3H.sub.8 apparent adsorbate phase mole fractions vary from zero to unity.

Prediction of Mixed-Gas Adsorption Equilibria

[0088] To examine the predictive capability of gL, the mixed-gas adsorption equilibria is predicted for CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6 ternary and C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6C.sub.3H.sub.6 ternary on activated carbon at 323 K and 0.1 bar [28] and CO.sub.2 H.sub.2SC.sub.3H.sub.8 ternary on zeolite H-mordenite at 303.15 K and 0.007-0.1342 bar [30]. The predictions with eL, IAST, and gL are based on the pure component adsorption isotherm parameters reported in Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3 and the regressed .sub.ij's reported in Table 4. The parity plots of above mentioned mixed-gas adsorption equilibria predictions for apparent adsorbate phase compositions are presented in FIGS. 8A-8C. FIG. 8A depicts CH.sub.4 ()-C.sub.2H.sub.4()-C.sub.2H, (x) on activated carbon at 323 K and 0.1 bar [28]. FIG. 8B depicts C.sub.2H.sub.4()-C.sub.2H, ()-C.sub.3H.sub.6(x) on activated carbon at 323 K and 0.1 bar [28]. FIG. 8C depicts CO.sub.2 ()-H.sub.2S ()-C.sub.3H.sub.8 (x) on zeolite H-mordenite at 303.15 K and 0.007-0.1342 bar [30]. The blue, black, and red colors represent eL, IAST, and gL predictions, respectively.

[0089] The average relative deviation (ARD %) results are reported in Table 5.

[00041] $\begin{matrix} ARD % = \frac{1 0 0}{N} {.Math.}_{i = 1}^{N} .Math. \frac{x_{i, calc}^{} - x_{i, expt}^{}}{x_{i, expt}^{}} .Math. & (55) \end{matrix}$

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Average relative deviation (ARD %) of ternary mixed-gas adsorption equilibria systems Adsorbents Adsorbates IAST eL gL Activated Carbon at 323K and CH.sub.4(1)C.sub.2H.sub.4(2)C.sub.2H.sub.6(3) 27.2% 47.1% 27.5% 0.1 bar .sup.28 C.sub.2H.sub.4(1)C.sub.2H.sub.6(2)C.sub.3H.sub.6(3) 17.6% 37.7% 18.6% Zeolite H-mordenite at 303.15K CO.sub.2(1)H.sub.2S(2)C.sub.3H.sub.8(3) 48.8% 27.0% 19.3% and 0.007-0.1342 bar .sup.30

[0090] For mixed-gas adsorption equilibria for CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6 ternary and C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6-C.sub.3H.sub.6 ternary on activated carbon at 323 K and 0.1 bar [28], the eL predictions have the highest ARD's of 47% and 38%, respectively. IAST and gL provide very similar predictions for CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.4-C.sub.2H.sub.6 ternary and C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6C.sub.3H.sub.6 ternary on activated carbon with ARD around 27% and 18%, respectively. In case of mixed-gas adsorption for CO.sub.2 H.sub.2SC.sub.3H.sub.8 ternary on zeolite H-mordenite at 303.15 K and 0.007-0.1342 bar [30], the IAST predictions yield the highest ARD of nearly 49%, followed by the eL predictions with ARD of 27%. The gL predictions yield the best predictions with ARD of 19%.

[0091] Comparison of IAST-aNRTL and generalized Langmuir capabilities

[0092] In addition to the comparison with eL and IAST, the gL results have also been checked against our prior investigation for mixed-gas adsorption equilibria based a modified IAST and the original adsorption NRTL model [10]. Specifically, Table 6 reports the RMSEs for IAST-aNRTL and gL for five binary systems: N.sub.2O.sub.2 binary at 1.013 bar and at 6.08 bar on LiLSX at 303.15 K [29], H.sub.2SCO.sub.2 binary at 0.156 bar, C.sub.3H.sub.8H.sub.2S binary at 0.081 bar, and C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2 binary at 0.41 bar on zeolite H-mordenite at 303.15 K. [30] Overall, the gL results for the mixed-gas adsorption equilibria are slightly better than the IAST-aNRTL results. More importantly, the gL results are thermodynamically consistent while the IAST-aNRTL results are valid at constant spreading pressures even though the adsorption equilibria are at constant system pressures. Moreover, gL does not require the computationally expansive calculations on spreading pressures as required for IAST-aNRTL.

TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 6 Regressed IAST-aNRTL and generalized Langmuir parameters for binary mixed-gas adsorption equilibria T P IAST-aNRTL .sup.10 gL Adsorbent Adsorbates (K) (bar) .sub.12 RMSE .sub.12 RMSE Ref. LiLSX N.sub.2(1)O.sub.2(2) 303.15 1.013 0.84 0.006 1.83 0.005 [29] 0.04 0.00 N.sub.2(1)O.sub.2(2) 303.15 6.080 0.84 0.005 1.83 0.001 0.04 0.00 Zeolite H- H.sub.2S (1)CO.sub.2(2) 303.15 0.156 1.60 0.020 2.95 0.013 [30] Mordenite 0.31 0.00 C.sub.3H.sub.8(1)H.sub.2S(2) 303.15 0.081 3.22 0.042 3.93 0.038 0.02 0.00 C.sub.3H.sub.8 (1)CO.sub.2(2) 303.15 0.410 3.77 0.063 4.87 0.085 0.02 0.00

CONCLUSION

[0093] A simple, robust, and thermodynamically consistent adsorption model for pure component adsorption isotherms and mixed-gas adsorption equilibria has been described herein. Treating the adsorbent surface as an integral part of adsorption systems, the proposed generalized Langmuir isotherm accurately correlates and predicts mixed-gas adsorption equilibria without the need to compute spreading pressure as required for Ideal Adsorbed Solution Theory. Tested with mixed-gas adsorption equilibria data for ten binary and three ternary systems, the generalized Langmuir isotherm outperforms both extended Langmuir and Ideal Adsorbed Solution Theory in predicting mixed-gas adsorption equilibria. As the generalized Langmuir isotherm tracks the surface loading in terms of occupied and vacant sites surface area fractions and the surface heterogeneity in terms of the adsorbate phase activity coefficients, it is shown for the first-time complete phase diagrams for mixed-gas adsorption equilibria analogous to the TPxy phase diagrams for vapor-liquid equilibria. Additionally, the generalized Langmuir isotherm predictions for mixed-gas adsorption equilibria can be used to elucidate the spreading pressure dependence of adsorbate phase activity coefficients in the context of Ideal Adsorbed Solution Theory.

[0094] Some other embodiments of the present invention will now be described with respect to FIGS. 9-11. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an apparatus, system or computer 900, such as a workstation, laptop, desktop, tablet computer, mainframe, or other single or distributed computing platform suitable for performing the methods described herein. Note that the components can be integrated into a single device or communicably coupled to one another via a network. The apparatus, system or computer 900 includes one or more processors 902, a memory or data storage 904, and one or more communication interfaces or input/output interfaces 906, which can be communicably coupled to one or more output device(s) 908 (e.g., printer, internal or external data storage device, display or monitor, remote database, remote computer, etc.) via a network or communications link 910 (e.g., wired, wireless, optical, etc.). The one or more output device(s) can be integrated into the computer 900 as indicated by the dashed line 912

[0095] The apparatus, system or computer 900 can be used to estimate an adsorption equilibria for one or more gases from pure component adsorption isotherms. The one or more processors calculate an adsorption of each gas i on a constant monolayer adsorption surface A.sup.o using generalized Langmuir isotherm equations:

[00042] $_{i} = \frac{n_{i} A_{i}}{A^{o}} = \frac{K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}{\frac{_{i}}{_{} q_{i}} + {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} \frac{_{i} q_{j}}{_{j} q_{i}} K_{j}^{o} y_{j} P}$ $_{} = \frac{n_{} A_{}}{A^{o}} = \frac{1}{1 + {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} \frac{_{} q_{j}}{_{j}} K_{j}^{o} y_{j} P}$ $q_{i} = \frac{A_{i}}{A_{}}$

where: .sub.i is an adsorbate phase area fraction covered with the gas i, [0096] n.sub.iA.sub.i is an occupied area for the gas i, [0097] K.sub.i.sup.o is an intrinsic adsorption equilibrium constant of the gas i, [0098] y.sub.i is a gas phase mole fraction of gas i, [0099] P is a gas vapor pressure, [0100] .sub.i is an activity coefficient of the gas i, [0101] .sub. is an activity coefficient of vacant sites, [0102] q.sub.i is a ratio of an effective area of the gas i (A.sub.i) and an effective area of a phantom molecule (A.sub.), [0103] n is a number of the one or more gases, [0104] .sub. is an adsorbate phase vacant site area fraction, and [0105] n.sub.A.sub. is a vacant area for the phantom molecule .

[0106] The adsorption of each gas i is provided to the output device 908, and a chemical process or a product is developed using the adsorption of each gas i.

[0107] In one aspect, the generalized Langmuir isotherm equations reduce to

[00043] $\frac{n_{i}}{n_{i}^{0}} = \frac{K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}{1 + {.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n} K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}$

when (1) the adsorbate and vacant site effective areas are the same A.sub.1=A.sub.2= . . . =A.sub.i=A.sub., or equivalently, the saturation loadings of adsorbates and phantom molecule are same n.sub.1.sup.0=n.sub.2.sup.0= . . . =n.sub.i.sup.0=n.sub..sup.0, and (2) the adsorbate phase activity coefficients are unity .sub.i=.sub.=1. In another aspect, the one or more gases comprise a mixed gas having two or more components. In another aspect, the constant monolayer adsorption surface comprises activated carbon, LiLSX or Zeolite H-mordenite. In another aspect, the gas i comprises CH.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.3H.sub.6, N.sub.2, O.sub.2, CO.sub.2, H.sub.2S, or C.sub.3H.sub.8. In another aspect, the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.4, CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, and C.sub.2H.sub.6C.sub.3H.sub.6. In another aspect, the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from N.sub.2 and O.sub.2. In another aspect, the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from H.sub.2SCO.sub.2, C.sub.3H.sub.8H.sub.2S, and C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2.

[0108] FIG. 10 is a flow chart depicting a computerized method 1000 for estimating an adsorption equilibria for one or more gases from pure component adsorption isotherms. One or more processors, a memory communicably coupled to the one or more processors and an output device communicably coupled to the one or more processors are provided in block 1002. An adsorption of each gas on a constant monolayer adsorption surface is calculated using the one or more processors and the generalized Langmuir isotherm equations (24)-(26) or equation (27) in block 1004, namely:

[00044] $_{i} = \frac{n_{i} A_{i}}{A^{o}} = \frac{K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}{\frac{_{i}}{_{} q_{i}} + {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} \frac{_{i} q_{j}}{_{j} q_{i}} K_{j}^{o} y_{j} P}$ $_{} = \frac{n_{} A_{}}{A^{o}} = \frac{1}{1 + {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} \frac{_{} q_{j}}{_{j}} K_{j}^{o} y_{j} P}$ $q_{i} = \frac{A_{i}}{A_{}}$

where: .sub.i is an adsorbate phase area fraction covered with the gas i, [0109] n.sub.iA.sub.i is an occupied area for the gas i, [0110] K.sub.i.sup.o is an intrinsic adsorption equilibrium constant of the gas i, [0111] y.sub.i is a gas phase mole fraction of gas i, [0112] P is a gas vapor pressure, [0113] .sub.i is an activity coefficient of the gas i, [0114] .sub. is an activity coefficient of vacant sites, [0115] q.sub.i is a ratio of an effective area of the gas i (A.sub.i) and an effective area of a phantom molecule (A.sub.), [0116] n is a number of the one or more gases, [0117] .sub. is an adsorbate phase vacant site area fraction, and [0118] n.sub.A.sub. is a vacant area for the phantom molecule .

[0119] The adsorption of each gas is provided to the output device in block 1006, and a chemical process or product is developed using the adsorption of each gas in block 1008. The method 1000 can be implemented by the apparatus 900 or by a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program for execution by a processor that performs the steps of the method 1000.

[0120] In one aspect, the generalized Langmuir isotherm equations reduce to

[00045] $\frac{n_{i}}{n_{i}^{0}} = \frac{K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}{1 + {.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n} K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}$

when (1) the adsorbate and vacant site effective areas are the same A.sub.1=A.sub.2= . . . =A.sub.i=A.sub., or equivalently, the saturation loadings of adsorbates and phantom molecule are same n.sub.1.sup.0=n.sub.2.sup.0= . . . =n.sub.i.sup.0?=n.sub..sup.0, and (2) the adsorbate phase activity coefficients are unity .sub.i=.sub.=1. In another aspect, the one or more gases comprise a mixed gas having two or more components. In another aspect, the constant monolayer adsorption surface comprises activated carbon, LiLSX or Zeolite H-mordenite. In another aspect, the gas i comprises CH.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.6, N.sub.2, O.sub.2, CO.sub.2, H.sub.2S, or C.sub.3H.sub.8. In another aspect, the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.4, CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.3H.sub.6, and C.sub.2H.sub.6C.sub.3H.sub.6. In another aspect, the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from N.sub.2 and O.sub.2. In another aspect, the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from H.sub.2SCO.sub.2, C.sub.3H.sub.8H.sub.2S, and C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2.

[0121] FIG. 11 is a flow chart depicting a method 1100 of adsorbing one or more gases. A vessel containing a constant monolayer adsorption surface is provided in block 1102. One or more gases are introduced into the vessel in block 1104, wherein the adsorption of each gas on the constant monolayer adsorption surface is determined by the generalized Langmuir isotherm equations (24)-(26) or equation (27), namely:

[00046] $_{i} = \frac{n_{i} A_{i}}{A^{o}} = \frac{K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}{\frac{_{i}}{_{} q_{i}} + {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} \frac{_{i} q_{j}}{_{j} q_{i}} K_{j}^{o} y_{j} P}$ $_{} = \frac{n_{} A_{}}{A^{o}} = \frac{1}{1 + {.Math.}_{j = 1}^{n} \frac{_{} q_{j}}{_{j}} K_{j}^{o} y_{j} P}$ $q_{i} = \frac{A_{i}}{A_{}}$

where: .sub.i is an adsorbate phase area fraction covered with the gas i, [0122] n.sub.iA.sub.i is an occupied area for the gas i, [0123] K.sub.i.sup.o is an intrinsic adsorption equilibrium constant of the gas i, [0124] y.sub.i is a gas phase mole fraction of gas i, [0125] P is a gas vapor pressure, [0126] .sub.i is an activity coefficient of the gas i, [0127] .sub. is an activity coefficient of vacant sites, [0128] q.sub.i is a ratio of an effective area of the gas i (A.sub.i) and an effective area of a phantom molecule (A.sub.), [0129] n is a number of the one or more gases, [0130] .sub. is an adsorbate phase vacant site area fraction, and [0131] n.sub.A.sub. is a vacant area for the phantom molecule .
A product can be produced in accordance with the method 1100.

[0132] In one aspect, the generalized Langmuir isotherm equations reduce to

[00047] $\frac{n_{i}}{n_{i}^{0}} = \frac{K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}{1 + {.Math.}_{i = 1}^{n} K_{i}^{o} y_{i} P}$

when (1) the adsorbate and vacant site effective areas are the same A.sub.1=A.sub.2= . . . =A.sub.i=A.sub., or equivalently, the saturation loadings of adsorbates and phantom molecule are same n.sub.1.sup.0=n.sub.2.sup.0= . . . =n.sub.i.sup.0=n.sub..sup.0, and (2) the adsorbate phase activity coefficients are unity .sub.i=.sub.=1. In another aspect, the one or more gases comprise a mixed gas having two or more components. In another aspect, the constant monolayer adsorption surface comprises activated carbon, LiLSX or Zeolite H-mordenite. In another aspect, the gas i comprises CH.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.4, C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.3H.sub.6, N.sub.2, O.sub.2, CO.sub.2, H.sub.2S, or C.sub.3H.sub.8. In another aspect, the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.4, CH.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.2H.sub.6, C.sub.2H.sub.4C.sub.3H.sub.6, and C.sub.2H.sub.6C.sub.3H.sub.6. In another aspect, the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from N.sub.2 and O.sub.2. In another aspect, the one or more gasses comprise a mixed gas selected from H.sub.2SCO.sub.2, C.sub.3H.sub.6H.sub.2S, and C.sub.3H.sub.8CO.sub.2.

[0133] It will be understood that particular embodiments described herein are shown by way of illustration and not as limitations of the invention. The principal features of this invention can be employed in various embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, numerous equivalents to the specific procedures described herein. Such equivalents are considered to be within the scope of this invention and are covered by the claims.

[0134] All publications and patent applications mentioned in the specification are indicative of the level of skill of those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains. All publications and patent applications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.

[0135] The use of the word a or an when used in conjunction with the term comprising in the claims and/or the specification may mean one, but it is also consistent with the meaning of one or more, at least one, and one or more than one. The use of the term or in the claims is used to mean and/or unless explicitly indicated to refer to alternatives only or the alternatives are mutually exclusive, although the disclosure supports a definition that refers to only alternatives and and/or. Throughout this application, the term about is used to indicate that a value includes the inherent variation of error for the device, the method being employed to determine the value, or the variation that exists among the study subjects.

[0136] As used in this specification and claim(s), the words comprising (and any form of comprising, such as comprise and comprises), having (and any form of having, such as have and has), including (and any form of including, such as includes and include) or containing (and any form of containing, such as contains and contain) are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, unrecited features, elements, components, groups, integers, and/or steps, but do not exclude the presence of other unstated features, elements, components, groups, integers and/or steps. In embodiments of any of the compositions and methods provided herein, comprising may be replaced with consisting essentially of or consisting of. As used herein, the term consisting is used to indicate the presence of the recited integer (e.g., a feature, an element, a characteristic, a property, a method/process step or a limitation) or group of integers (e.g., feature(s), element(s), characteristic(s), property(ies), method/process steps or limitation(s)) only. As used herein, the phrase consisting essentially of requires the specified features, elements, components, groups, integers, and/or steps, but do not exclude the presence of other unstated features, elements, components, groups, integers and/or steps as well as those that do not materially affect the basic and novel characteristic(s) and/or function of the claimed invention.

[0137] The term or combinations thereof as used herein refers to all permutations and combinations of the listed items preceding the term. For example, A, B, C, or combinations thereof is intended to include at least one of: A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and if order is important in a particular context, also BA, CA, CB, CBA, BCA, ACB, BAC, or CAB. Continuing with this example, expressly included are combinations that contain repeats of one or more item or term, such as BB, AAA, AB, BBC, AAABCCCC, CBBAAA, CABABB, and so forth. The skilled artisan will understand that typically there is no limit on the number of items or terms in any combination, unless otherwise apparent from the context.

[0138] As used herein, words of approximation such as, without limitation, about, substantial or substantially refers to a condition that when so modified is understood to not necessarily be absolute or perfect but would be considered close enough to those of ordinary skill in the art to warrant designating the condition as being present. The extent to which the description may vary will depend on how great a change can be instituted and still have one of ordinary skill in the art recognize the modified feature as still having the required characteristics and capabilities of the unmodified feature. In general, but subject to the preceding discussion, a numerical value herein that is modified by a word of approximation such as about may vary from the stated value by at least 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12 or 15%.

[0139] All of the compositions and/or methods disclosed and claimed herein can be made and executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure. While the compositions and methods of this invention have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the compositions and/or methods and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the method described herein without departing from the concept, spirit and scope of the invention. All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and concept of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

[0140] To aid the Patent Office, and any readers of any patent issued on this application in interpreting the claims appended hereto, applicants wish to note that they do not intend any of the appended claims to invoke paragraph 6 of 35 U.S.C. 112, U.S.C. 112 paragraph (f), or equivalent, as it exists on the date of filing hereof unless the words means for or step for are explicitly used in the particular claim.

[0141] For each of the claims, each dependent claim can depend both from the independent claim and from each of the prior dependent claims for each and every claim so long as the prior claim provides a proper antecedent basis for a claim term or element.

REFERENCES

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GENERALIZATION OF THERMODYNAMIC LANGMUIR ISOTHERMS FOR MIXED-GAS ADSORPTION EQUILIBRIA

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G01N25/4813

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G01N25/4873

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G06F17/11

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G01N25/48

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G06F17/11

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