524.    ---------------.   [CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES.]  Separation by Adsorption.  Vol. 61, 1947, pp. 625-631; Fuel Abs., No. 3506, June 1948.

                  Summary of the development of adsorption as a method of separation is given with reference to the production of activated C from bituminous coal, methods for the activation of C, and hydrocarbon fractionation by means of fixed beds of C attached to Fischer-Tropsch converters and operated in a manner similar to the chromatographic separation of various components of solutions and by the hypersorption process.  The adsorbent C falls through a tower countercurrently to hydrocarbon vapors.  As the C falls, it adsorbs the lighter constituents.  Lower down the C meets with a greater concentration of heavier constituents, which displace the lighter material.  Thus, throughout the length of the column, an effect is produced comparable to refluxing in distillation.  The bottom section consists of a steaming section in which adsorbed material is stripped from the C.  In a C2H4 recovery unit now in operation, 76,900 cu. ft. of gases containing 5.7% of C2H4 are fed into the tower per hr., and approximately 7,000 lb. of a product containing 92% of C2H4 is obtained per day.  Activated C has been employed to recover antibiotics.