Adsorption of typical gasoline vapor emitted from service stations by commercial activated carbon: static/dynamic adsorption and kinetics simulation

Abstract

Gasoline vapor emissions from service stations significantly affect urban atmospheric. Despite the research on the mechanisms and effectiveness of gasoline vapor removal is limited, this study innovatively investigates the static and dynamic adsorption of xylene—a typical gasoline vapor and one of the most active secondary organic aerosol (SOA) species—by commercial activated carbon (AC). The results showed that the saturation static adsorption capacity (Q_e) of 12 ACs varied from 0.9 to 870.7 mg/g, which correlated with the specific surface area (SSA) and pore volume. Among them, 11# and 12# ACs were identified as the most effective adsorbents for typical gasoline vapor removal. The maximum dynamic Q_e increased from 301.5 to 414.3 mg/g when the initial xylene concentration rose from 918 to 2008 mg/m³ for 11# AC, and from 201.4 to 406.2 mg/g when the initial xylene concentration increased from 589 to 2120 mg/m³ for 12# AC. These findings implied a direct correlation between higher initial xylene concentrations and greater dynamic Q_e values, with static Q_e values surpassing dynamic values. The adsorption kinetics simulation were analyzed by the pseudo-first-order (PFO) and pseudo-second-order (PSO) kinetics. The kinetics results demonstrated that the PFO was more effective in characterizing the adsorption of xylene onto ACs (R² > 0.989), indicating that the adsorption of typical gasoline vapor by ACs primarily involves physical adsorption. The findings of static/dynamic adsorption and kinetics provide valuable guidance for practical applications of gasoline vapor removal in service stations.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Activated carbon / Gasoline vapor / Xylene / Dynamic adsorption / Breakthrough curve

Highlight

	● Wooden AC exhibits the highest xylene static Q e, reaching up to 870.7 mg/g.
	● Static Q e for xylene increased nearly linearly with AC’ SSA and pore volume.
	● Higher initial xylene concentrations result in greater dynamic Q e.
	● PFO kinetics proved more effective in characterizing xylene adsorption onto AC.

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