Microwave-swing adsorption for the capture and recovery, or destruction for a more sustainable use of organic vapors

Activated Carbon Fiber Cloth (ACFC) adsorbent has larger adsorption capacities and microporosities, faster mass and heat transfer rates, and contains less ash than traditional granular activated carbon. ACFC is typically regenerated using resistive heating or steam. However, there is limited information about the regeneration of ACFC using microwave heating, possibly due to the lack of information about its microwave regeneration properties.; In this research, ACFC was used with microwave swing adsorption (MSA) to remove organic vapors from air streams and then recover the adsorbate as liquid (MSA-LR) or provide readily controllable feed streams of that vapor in air at specified concentrations and gas flow rates using MSA with steady-state tracking (MSA-SST) desorption. This research also investigated the impact of chemical functional groups on the adsorption and regeneration properties of virgin and chemically modified ACFC.; The MSA-LR system successfully adsorbed organic vapor from the airstreams, allowed for rapid regeneration of the ACFC cartridge, and recovered the adsorbate as liquid for recycle and reuse. The MSA-SST system allowed accurate and precise control of the organic vapor concentration. Chemical treatment of the ACFC had a significant effect on ACFC's adsorption and regeneration properties. This research contributes to the development of novel vapor control techniques to effectively and economically control vapor emissions.