The main industrial applications of activated alumina as an adsorbent include gas drying, liquid drying, water purification, selective adsorption in the petroleum industry, and chromatography.
Because activated alumina has a strong affinity for water, it has been widely used in gas drying. The main gases that can be dried with activated alumina are: acetylene, cracked 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. Because activated alumina releases a lot of heat when it absorbs water, it is necessary to design comprehensive drying capacity, drying speed, heat exchange and regeneration methods during application.
The main liquids that activated alumina can be dried are: 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 alumina surface and are not easily removed 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 wastewater. In addition, activated alumina is also widely used in the recovery and selective adsorption of carbohydrates and the maintenance of power system oil.
