Experiments have been carried out to study adsorption of xylene (a volatile organic compound) on the granular activated carbon, using the experimental variables, such as inlet gas concentration (2400 - 6200 ppm), gas flow rate (50 mL/min) and height of the adsorbent bed (0.015 - 0.025 m). The breakthrough curves are then drawn between ratios of outlet gas concentration to inlet gas concentration and time for different operating conditions. A mathematical model is developed to predict the breakthrough curves of xylene on granular activated carbon. The model shows the effects of the gas-particle film mass transfer resistance, adsorbent pore diffusion and instantaneous local adsorption equilibrium at the pore surface. The experimental data and the corresponding model simulated results have been compared and are found to be in good agreement. The breakthrough time increases with increase in bed height and decreases with increase in inlet concentration.