Fabrication and evaluation of low-cost agarose–zinc nanoporous composite matrix: Influence of adsorbent density and size distribution on the performance of expanded beds

Expanded bed adsorption (EBA), a promising and practical separation technique for adsorption of nanobioproduct/bioproduct, has been widely studied in the past two decades. The development of adsorbent with the special design for expanded bed process is a challenging course. To reduce the costs of adsorbent preparation, fine zinc powder was used as the inexpensive densifier. A series of matrices named Ag–Zn were prepared by water-in-oil emulsification method. The structure and morphology of the prepared matrix were studied by the optical microscope (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The physical properties as a function of zinc powder ratio to agarose slurry were measured. The prepared matrices had regular spherical shape, and followed logarithmic normal size distribution with the range of 75–330 μm, mean diameter of 140.54–191.11 μm, wet density of 1.33–2.01 g/ml, water content of 0.45–0.75, porosity of 0.86–0.97 and pore size of about 40–90 nm. The bed expansion factor at the range of 2–3 was examined. The obtained results indicated that the expansion factor was decreased with increasing of matrix density. In addition, it was found that matrices with large particle size were suitable for high operation flow rate. The hydrodynamic properties were determined in expanded bed by the residence time distribution method (RTD). The effects of flow velocity, expansion factor and density of matrix on the hydrodynamic properties were also investigated. Moreover, the influence of particle size distribution on the performance of expanded bed has been studied. Therefore, three different particle size fractions (65–140, 215–280 and 65–280 μm) were assessed. The results indicated that dispersion in liquid–solid expanded beds increased with increasing flow rate and expansion factor; and matrix with a wide particle size distribution leaded to a reduced axial dispersion compared to matrices with a narrow size distribution. The axial dispersion coefficient also enhanced with the increasing of matrix density. It was found that flow rate was the most essential factor to effect on the hydrodynamic characteristics in the bed. For all the prepared matrices, the values of axial mixing coefficients (Daxl) were smaller than 1.0 × 10−5 m2/s when flow velocities in expanded bed were less than 700 cm/h. All the results indicate that the prepared matrix show good expansion and stability in expanded bed; and it is suitable for expanded bed processes as an economical adsorbent.