Application of Activated Alumina as Adsorbent

The main industrial applications of activated alumina as an adsorbent include gas drying, liquid drying, water purification, selective adsorption in the petroleum industry, and chromatographic separation processes.
Activated alumina is widely used in gas drying due to its strong affinity for water. The gases that can be dried with activated alumina mainly include: acetylene, pyrolysis gas, coke oven gas, hydrogen, oxygen, air, ethane, hydrogen chloride, propane, ammonia, ethylene, hydrogen sulfide, propylene, argon, methane, sulfur dioxide, Carbon dioxide, natural gas, helium, nitrogen, chlorine, etc. Since activated alumina releases a large amount of heat when it absorbs water, it should be designed in consideration of drying capacity, drying speed, heat transfer and regeneration methods during application.
The liquids that activated alumina can dry mainly include: aromatic hydrocarbons, polymer olefins, gasoline, kerosene, cyclohexane, propylene, butene and many halogenated hydrocarbons. When these liquids are in contact with alumina, the two will not react or polymerize. At the same time, the dry liquid does not contain components that are easily adsorbed on the surface of alumina and difficult to remove during regeneration.
In terms of water purification, activated alumina is not only mainly used to remove fluoride in drinking water, but also effective in eliminating the color and odor of industrial sewage. In addition, activated alumina is also commonly used in the recovery and selective adsorption of carbohydrates and the maintenance of power system oils.