THE RECOVERY OF CHLOROFLUOROCARBONS AND CHLOROFLUOROCARBON REPLACEMENTS BY SURFACE-MODIFIED ACTIVATED CARBON

The adsorption properties of chlorofluorocarbon CFC113 and CFC replacements (HCFC225cb and 5FP) on activated carbon treated with 6 N nitric acid or hydrogen gas were investigated on the basis of their physicochemical adsorption isotherm and Dubinin-Rudshkevich plot to elucidate the difference between untreated activated carbon (U-AC) and surface modified activated carbon (NT-AC and HT-AC) during interaction with CFCs and CFC replacements. No correlation between the physicochemical properties of the activated carbon surface and the polarity of CFCs or CFC replacements was observed. The adsorption isotherms of CFC113, HCFC225cb, and 5FP on U-AC, NT-AC, and HT-AC have different branch points, that is, selective adsorption (HT-AC) and nonselective adsorption (NT-AC). NT-AC is well suited for the recovery of a mixture of CFCs and CFC replacements, while HT-AC is good for a sample of CFC replacements. Studying the adsorption rate is useful for increasing the recovery efficiency. Therefore, the rate of adsorption of CFCs and CFC replacements onto surface modified activated carbon was investigated. The Sameshima equation fits the adsorption isotherms. The initial rate constants k for CFC113, HCFC225cb, and 5FP onto U-AC, HT-AC, and HT-AC, respectively, were the largest. HT-AC could be adapted for the recovery of HCFC225cb and 5FP. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.