Adsorption and diffusion of Xenon in a granulated nano-NaY zeolite

Henry's law constant and crystal diffusivity of xenon in the granulated nano-NaY zeolite were measured by the pulse gas chromatography method. For this purpose the moments of response peaks of xenon were analyzed. The effect of extra column parts of the utilized chromatographic system was also considered by analyzing the moments of the response peak which was obtained by pulse injection of inert gas of helium into the carrier gas of nitrogen. In addition, the measurement of average velocity of the carrier gas regarding the pressure drop in the extra column parts of the system attributed to precise results. By carrying out the experiments at various temperatures in the range of 30-110 A degrees C the heat of adsorption and activation energy of crystal diffusivity were estimated. In order to find the binder effect on the adsorption of and diffusion into granules, the aforementioned parameters were also measured for the binderless granules of macron sized NaY zeolite. Results revealed that although the adsorption of xenon on the binder of bentonite was negligible, the diffusion resistance created by this binder was significant such that the effective crystal diffusivity in the granules with 25 % binder was determined to be 96 percent lower than the granules with no binder.