Correlation of sorption behavior of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon with Ca2+ locations in zeolite a: a grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation study.

The adsorption isotherms for nitrogen, oxygen, and argon in various NaCaA zeolite samples were calculated theoretically using the grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation method. The adsorption capacity, selectivity, and heat of adsorption of nitrogen increase with an increasing number of calcium cations in zeolite A. The heat of adsorption of nitrogen showed a sudden increase when the calcium ion exchange to zeolite A was around 60%. Adsorption isotherms, determined experimentally by the volumetric adsorption method, support theoretically predicted isotherms. These observations have been explained in terms of the interaction of the nitrogen molecule with Ca2+ ions and their locations in zeolite A.