Test Bench Development and Application to a Parametric Experimental Study on the Dynamic Adsorption Capacity of Noble Gases (Kr, Xe) in the Metal-Organic Framework HKUST-1

The objective of this work is to develop a dedicated test bench to study the dynamic noble gas trapping by porous materials, especially by metal-organic framework (MOF), in a nuclear context. The well-known copper-containing HKUST-1 material is used to determine the influence of different parameters such as temperature, concentration, humidity, MOF bed height or diameter, and velocity of the flow rate on noble gases adsorption (Kr, Xe) in breakthrough sorption experiments. Breakthrough time is shown to be directly related to the MOF bed height, shaping, and gas flow velocity. The adsorption capacities depend not only on the concentration of noble gases in the gas flow but also on the flow velocity. Indeed, when the velocity increases from 0.15 to 1 cm s(-1), the adsorption capacity of Xe increases from 3.46 to 5.15 mu mol g(-1) at 25 degrees C and 1 bar, while the breakthrough time decreases from 7.3 to 2.4 min. The temperature and the presence of water vapor have a negative effect on noble gas adsorption in HKUST-1.