Separation of ethanol–water liquid mixtures can be carried out by selective adsorption of water on activated alumina. The moderate selectivity and heat of adsorption of water on the alumina permits easier and less energy intensive desorption of the adsorbed water. Experimental binary surface excess isotherms, liquid-phase adsorption kinetics and column dynamics for the adsorption of bulk water–ethanol mixtures on Alcoa H152 alumina are reported. Model analyses of the data are carried out to quantify the selectivity of adsorption, adsorptive mass-transfer coefficients and the properties of the mass-transfer zones in adsorption columns.
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