Adsorption equilibrium and catalytic reaction of CFC-115 on Pd/activated carbon powder Original Research Article

Adsorption equilibria of chloropentafluoroethane (CF3CF2Cl, CFC-115) on Pd/activated carbon powder and on activated carbon powder were examined between 298.15 and 373.15 K. The adsorption equilibria of CFC-115 on the Pd/activated carbon powder and the activated carbon powder can be well represented by the BET equation. The isosteric heats of adsorption of CFC-115 on both adsorbents are of approximately the same order of magnitude as the heats of condensation. This means that the adsorption of CFC-115 on both adsorbents is primarily due to physical forces. By hydrodechlorination over the Pd/activated carbon powder, CFC-115 could be converted to pentafluoroethane (CF3CF2H, HFC-125) with more than 99% selectivity. It was found that the Pd/activated carbon powder can be used as an adsorbent for recovering CFC-115 and a catalyst for manufacturing HFC-125 from CFC-115.