Permeability and thermal conductivity test units were designed to study the heat and mass transfer performance of compact chemical and physical adsorbents, i.e. compact CaCl2 and activated carbon (AC) using expanded natural graphite (ENG) as host matrix. The thermal conductivity was studied by steady-state heat source method and the permeability was tested with nitrogen as a gas source. For the compact CaCl2 adsorbents, results show that permeability and thermal conductivity vary with the ratio of ENG and the density of compact adsorbents. The value of permeability is 10(-13) similar to 10(-11) m(2) when the density of compact sample change from 400 kg/m(3) to 550 kg/m(3), and it keeps increasing linearly with the less ratio of ENG. The value of thermal conductivity is 1.08 W/(m.K), which is increased by 5 times compared with granular CaCl2 when the density is 550 kg/m(3) and the ratio of ENG is the minimum value of 16.7%. The compact physical adsorbent of AC with ENG as matrix has the highest thermal conductivity of 2.61 W/(m.K) when the ratio between ENG and AC is 1.5:1. Similarly, thermal conductivity drops down with the ratio of ENG decreasing. When the ratio of ENG reaches the minimum ratio of 28.6%, the thermal conductivity is 2.08 W/(m.K), which is increased by 5.8 times if compared with the result of granular AC, and corresponding permeability is 5.16 x 10(-11) m(2). The thermal conductivity and permeability of compact physical adsorbent of AC are all better than the values for the compact chemical adsorbent of CaCl2. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.