Adsorption Characteristics of Activated Carbon Fibers for Toluene: Application on Respiratory Protection

Details

• Personal Author:
  Balanay J ; Lungu C ; Balanay J ; Lungu C
• Description:
  Objective: Granular activated carbon, the standard adsorbent in respirators against gases and vapors, needs containment due to its granular form. This makes respirators bulky and uncomfortable to wear, resulting to poor compliance in its use. Activated carbon fibers (ACF) are considered viable alternative adsorbent materials for developing thinner, light-weight and efficient respirators because of their larger surface area, lighter weight and fabric form. This study determined the critical bed depth and adsorption capacity of different ACF types for toluene to understand how thin a respirator can be and the service life of the adsorbents, respectively. The D-R equation was also assessed to predict the adsorption capacity for toluene at low concentrations. Methods: ACF in cloth (ACFC) and felt (ACFF) forms with three different surface areas per form were tested. Each ACF type was challenged with six toluene concentrations (50-500 ppm) at constant air temperature (23 degrees C), relative humidity (50%) and air flow (16 LPM) at different adsorbent bed depths. For each adsorbent, breakthrough data were obtained using gas chromatography, and surface area using an automatic physisorption analyzer. Results: ACFC has a lower critical bed depth and higher adsorption capacity compared to ACFF with similar surface area for each toluene concentration. Among the ACF types, ACFC 2000 (highest BET surface area = 1614 +/- 5 m2/g) has one of the lowest critical bed depths (ranging from 0.11-0.22 cm) and has the highest adsorption capacity (ranging from 595- 878 mg/g) for toluene. When the experimental adsorption capacity was compared with predicted, ACFs with lower surface area had the smallest difference. Conclusion: ACF has great potential for application in respiratory protection, particularly the ACFC 2000, which is the best candidate for developing thinner and efficient respirators. The D-R equation may need to be modified to better predict the adsorption capacity at low toluene concentrations. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Toluene
• Keywords:
  Adsorbents Adsorption Equipment Design Organic Vapors Respirators Respiratory Protective Equipment
• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary ; Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  37
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20057458
• Citation:
  AIHce 2011: American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 14-19, 2011, Portland, Oregon. Falls Church, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2011 May; :37
• CAS Registry Number:
  Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• Performing Organization:
  University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050803
• Source Full Name:
  AIHce 2011: American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 14-19, 2011, Portland, Oregon
• End Date:
  20100731
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:22ea87771b04d2a9cd2cbb185fa91187a555529af4ca97dcd075cf94d2dde163cddef22c39d1709658633c0f76b6d95baeecadc8ece7d9c62c41ea1d9afcc347
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/214808/cdc_214808_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 221.82 KB ]