Review and evaluation of factors affecting noble-gas adsorption on activated carbon

This article is a critical review of the literature describing the influence of various factors on the adsorption coefficients for radioactive krypton and xenon on activated carbon. Numerical analyses show that the three-parameter Antoine equation is useful for correlating the effects of temperature on the adsorption coefficients. Other important observations are (1) under similar conditions, charcoals differ significantly in their ability to adsorb krypton and xenon; (2) except at unusually high concentrations, adsorption coefficients appear to be independent of the concentration of the noble gas; and (3) the composition of the carrier gas significantly affects the adsorption coefficient, especially at low temperatures. 51 references.