AbstractIn this paper, mathematical models for a single adsorbate component present in a gas phase have been developed for isothermal and adiabatic dynamic adsorption‐desorption processes with special emphasis on adsorption drying by supported hygroscopic salts. The proposed generalized models are applicable to both an unsupported absorbent bed and a fixed bed of adsorbents impregnated on a supporter which may have nonlinear equilibrium relationships. The partial differential equations governing the dynamic adsorption‐desorption processes and the nonlinear equilibrium relations were solved numerically on the digital computer.An experimental study was conducted to measure the adsorption and desorption rates of water vapor by lithium chloride impregnated on a solid supporter, Torvex.The proposed adiabatic adsorption‐desorption model has been verified for unsupported adsorbent beds in the cases of water vapor adsorption from air by silica gel and of methane adsorption from a helium‐methane mixture by activated carbon. The validity of the generalized adiabatic model for supported adsorbent beds with nonlinear equilibrium relationships was established by a direct comparison of experimental data obtained in this study with the predicted