A systematic analysis of the dynamics of microwave- and conventionally-assisted swing adsorption on zeolite 13X and an activated carbon under post-combustion carbon capture conditions

Mohamud Mohamed Yassin, Simbarashe Biti, Waheed Afzal, Claudia Fernández Martín*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

This work presents a detailed parametric experimental work on the feasibility of microwave regeneration of two commercial adsorbents in a dynamic carbon capture swing adsorption system. A synthetic flue gas (15% v/v CO2 in N2) dry or with 15% relative humidity was selected, along with Norit R2020CO2 activated carbon and zeolite 13X. A purpose-modified experimental apparatus was used to compare microwave-assisted and conventional thermal swing regeneration. The impact of operating parameters on the dynamic process performance was measured for microwave and conventional heating. Parameters considered were type of adsorbent, flue gas composition, quantity of adsorbent (and bed size), and time of full regeneration, on CO2 capture capacity, recovery, purity and desorption kinetics. Results showed that microwave-assisted regeneration presents advantages over its conventional equivalent, as CO2 purity, recovery, and productivity were found to be higher under the former for the two adsorbents studied. For the time needed to achieve 50, 80, 90, and 99% regeneration, the benefits of microwave regeneration over conductive regeneration increased with an increase in sample size. Under the wet gas feed, Norit R2020CO2 and zeolite 13X showed an appreciably higher working capacity with microwave regeneration than with conventional regeneration (39.68 and 24.23% higher, respectively). Under the dry gas feed, the two adsorbents also maintained a higher working capacity with microwave heating as opposed to conductive heating (9.36 and 20.39% higher, respectively). The larger working capacity observed with microwave-assisted regeneration is attributed to the better regeneration.

Original languageEnglish
Article number106835
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Environmental Chemical Engineering
Volume9
Issue number6
Early online date19 Nov 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was carried out thanks to the financial support provided by the School of Engineering, University of Aberdeen to the principal investigator, Dr C. F. Martín, to develop the project titled 'Intensification of post-combustion capture by using advanced regeneration technologies' and also thanks to the financial support received from The Development Trust for the acquisition of the equipment (FlexiWave and micro-GC) employed in this project. Mr M.M. Yassin acknowledges Dr C.F. Martín and the School of Engineering, University of Aberdeen for the opportunity and the financial support provided through the PhD Scholarship. Finally, authors thank Cabot for supplying free samples of Norit R2030CO 2 .

Keywords

  • Activated carbon
  • CO capture
  • Desorption kinetics
  • Microwave heating
  • Microwave swing adsorption
  • Thermal heating
  • Thermal swing adsorption
  • Zeolite

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