I'm trying to obtain equal absorption rates of silica gel along a temperature gradient (20 - 40 °C) by adjusting the weight of the silica granules. Is there any literature on the relationship between temperature and absorption capacity (or a formula) of silica gel that can help me calculate this? The silica that will be used are 'shop-grade' pellets.
Hello Chris. I think you could use the Arrhenius equation, this equation relates the reaction rate and the temperature.
To determine the adsorption capacity for your silica gel you first need an equation of adsorption equilibrium to combine it with the equation of adsorption rate. As an equation of adsorption equilibrium you can use the Langmuir or Freundlich models that are well known, or another that fits your experimental data. Once you determine the adsorption equilibrium model you can use the Arrhenius' equation to represent the dependence of the parameter related to the maximum adsorption capacity with respect to the temperature in the model.
As the amount of water adsorbed is a function of both the moisture concentration in the gas surrounding the silica granules and the temperature, it is necessary to perform test at various relative humidities with constant temperature and at various temperatures, to find the parameters of adsorption rate and also the parameters of adsorption equilibrium. In the long run, to represent the adsorption process you need an adsorption rate equation (1st order kinetics, 2nd order kinetics, etc.), an adsorption equilibrium equation (an adsorption isotherm equation like Freundlich) and an equation of temperature-dependence for the parameters that depend on this (Arrhenius).
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