The adsorption of SO2 and NO onto palm shell activated carbon supported with cerium oxide (Ce/PSAC) was studied in a fixed bed adsorber. This paper reports the adsorption equilibrium of SO2 and NO in a simulated flue gas on Ce/PSAC. The experimental results show that within the experimental conditions at different inlet concentration of SO2/NO, the adsorption capacities of Ce/PSAC can be well fitted by Langmuir compared to Freundlich adsorption isotherms. The binary mixtures of SO2 and NO at different initial concentration can be well-correlated by the extended Jain and Snoeyink (JS) Langmuir model compared to extended Langmuir model. The physical properties of Ce/PSAC were calculated and it was consistent with the isotherm parameters obtained from the adsorption results. The adsorption was controlled by physisorption. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.