STUDY OF ACTIVATED CARBON SUPPORTED CuCl FOR ETHYLENE/ETHANE SEPARATION BY ADSORPTION: EFFECTS OF OXIDATIVE TREATMENT

Because asreceived commercial activated carbon has a low selectivity for ethylene over ethane, it was modified by dispersion of CuCl with or without oxidization beforehand. The adsorption separation performance of C2H4/C2H6 on the modified carbon was tested by a dynamic column method. The result show that the CuCl loaded activated carbon oxidized in advance had a higher adsorption and selectivity for C2H4 over C2H6 than that directly dispersed with CuCl. After oxidation, the amount of carboxyl groups on the surface of the activated carbon was obviously increased, favoring the bonding between CuCl and the carbon surface. The preoxidization also improved the dispersion of CuCl inside the activated carbon. The optimum adsorption amount for C2H4 on the oxidization modified CuCl loaded activated carbon is 21.2?mL(STP)/g with a selectivity of C2H4 over C2H6 of 8.7.