Various analytical expressions for solute adsorption kinetics within porous absorbents of defined geometry (planar sheet, cylinder, and sphere) are available in the literature. However, these expressions are limited for practical numerical evaluation because they are based on infinite series. An investigation of these expressions has been carried out and then accurate but simple expressions derived that enable rapid determination of effective diffusion coefficients for adsorption within geometrically categorical absorbents. These involve directly fitting calculated kinetic adsorption curves to experimental ones. A simple one point method is also proposed to estimate the effective diffusion coefficient for an adsorption process within these simple geometrical absorbents as an initial value for a best fit. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.