Preparation and adsorption properties of polyethylenimine containing fibrous adsorbent for carbon dioxide capture

We successfully prepared a novel fibrous adsorbent for carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture by coating polyethylenimine (PEI) on a glass fiber matrix, using epoxy resin (EP) as crosslinking agent. The physicochemical properties of the fibrous adsorbents were characterized in terms of Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and thermogravimetric analysis. Factors that affected the adsorption capacity of the fibrous adsorbent were studied, including the crosslinking agent dosage, coating weight, moisture, adsorption temperature, and CO₂ concentration of the simulated flue gas. The experimental results indicate that the properly crosslinked fibrous adsorbent had a high thermal stability at about 280°C. With a PEI/EP ratio of 10:1, a maximum adsorption capacity of 276.96 mg of CO₂/g of PEI was obtained at 30°C. Moisture had a promoting influence on the adsorption of CO₂ from flue gas. The CO₂ adsorption capacity of the fibrous adsorbent in the presence of moisture could be 19 times higher than that in dry conditions. The fibrous adsorbent could be completely regenerated at 120°C. The CO₂ adsorption capacity of the regenerated fibrous adsorbent was almost the same as that of the fresh adsorbent. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Synthesis and CO2 adsorption behavior of amine‐functionalized porous polystyrene adsorbent

A solid amine adsorbent was prepared by modifying a porous polystyrene resin (XAD‐4) with chloroacetyl chloride through a Friedel–Crafts acylation reaction, followed by aminating with tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA). The adsorption behavior of CO₂ from a simulated flue gas on the solid amine adsorbent was evaluated. Factors that could determine the CO₂ adsorption performance of the adsorbents such as amine species, adsorption temperature, and moisture were investigated. The experimental results showed that the solid amine adsorbent modified with TEPA (XAD‐4‐TEPA), which had a longer chain, showed an amine efficiency superior to the other two amine species with shorter chains. The CO₂ adsorption capacity decreased obviously as the temperature increased because the reaction between CO₂ and amine groups was an exothermic reaction, and its adsorption amount reached 1.7 mmol/g at 10 °C in dry conditions. The existence of water could significantly increase the CO₂ adsorption amount of the adsorbent by promoting the chemical adsorption of CO₂ on XAD‐4‐TEPA. The adsorbent kept almost the same adsorption amount after 10 cycles of adsorption–desorption. All of these results indicated that amine‐functionalized XAD‐4 resin was a promising CO₂ adsorbent. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 45046.     

CO2 Adsorption and Desorption for CO2 Enrichment at Low-Concentrations Using Zeolite 13X

Adsorption of CO₂ using zeolite 13X as adsorbent has been studied extensively, but little attention has been paid to CO₂ adsorption at very low concentrations such as in the ambient air. Furthermore, there is almost no information on CO₂ desorption characteristics. In a carbon enrichment for plant stimulation system, ambient CO₂ is enriched from 400 to 1000 ppm to provide an enriched CO₂ stream for plant growth in greenhouses. To provide essential design data, systematic performance tests were carried out to evaluate both the adsorption and desorption capacity, enrichment factor, moisture content, and cyclic performance. It was found that the adsorption capacity and CO₂ concentration in the enriched air are a function of adsorption temperature and the difference of adsorption and desorption temperatures, for a given adsorbent loading at a properly selected gas flow rate.     

CO2 sorption performance by aminosilane functionalized spheres prepared via co‐condensation and post‐synthesis methods

Amine functionalized silica microspheres were synthesised via a modified Stöber reaction for carbon dioxide (CO₂) adsorption. A number of adsorbents were synthesized by co‐condensation and post synthesis immobilization of amines on porous silica spheres. CO₂ adsorption studies were carried out on a fixed bed gas adsorption rig with online mass spectrometry. Amine co‐condensed silica spheres were found to adsorb up to 66 mg CO₂ g^?1 solid in a 0.15 atm CO₂ stream at 35°C. Simple post‐synthesis addition of aminopropyltriethoxysilane to amine co‐condensed silica was found to significantly increase the uptake of CO₂ to 211 mg CO₂ g^?1 under similar conditions, with CO₂ desorption commencing at temperatures as low as 60°C. The optimum temperature for adsorption was found to be 35°C. This work presents a CO₂ adsorbent prepared via a simple synthesis method, with a high CO₂ adsorption capacity and favorable CO₂ adsorption/desorption performance under simulated flue gas conditions. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 2825–2832, 2016     

改性蜂窝状活性炭吸附二氧化碳和氮气的热力学

蜂窝状活性炭具有较高的比表面积、多孔道、压降低、吸脱附速率快、不易堵塞等优点,因此被认为是捕集烟道气中CO₂重要吸附材料。选用蜂窝状煤基和椰壳两种活性炭吸附剂,采用磁悬浮热天平分别测定了CO₂和N₂的吸附等温线。采用1 mol·L^-1 K₂CO₃对蜂窝状活性炭材料进行浸渍改性,提高在低二氧化碳分压下的CO₂吸附性能。采用Langmuir、multi-site Langmuir和Virial 3种模型对吸附平衡数据进行拟合,得出热力学参数,为后续吸附工艺优化设计提供基础数据。结果表明在实验范围内3种模型均能对实验测量的等温线进行较好的拟合,Langmuir模型总体拟合效果最好。     

Efficient capture of CO2 from flue gas at high temperature by tunable polyamine-based hybrid ionic liquids

For an ideal absorbent for CO₂ capture from flue gas, there are some key features including easy preparation, high stability, low absorption enthalpy, high capacity at high temperature and excellent reversibility. Herein, several polyamine-functionalized ionic liquids (ILs) were easily prepared from cheap polyamines and lithium salts, which exhibited significantly improved stability due to the presence of multisite coordinating interactions. The viscosity was reduced by introducing polyalcohol-based ILs, leading to polyamine-based hybrid ILs. Interestingly, these polyamine-based hybrid ILs exhibited high CO₂ capacity (4.09 mmol/g, 0.1 bar) at high temperature (80°C) and excellent reversibility in the presence of H₂O and O₂, which is superior to many other good absorbents. Moreover, these ILs also showed good performance for CO₂ capture from stimulated air (2.10 mmol/g, 380 ppm). We believe that this method with easy preparation, low cost, high efficiency and excellent reversibility has a great potential in the industrial capture of CO₂ from flue gas.     

Sorbent design for CO2 capture under different flue gas conditions

CO₂ capture by solid sorbents is a physisorption process in which the gas molecules are adsorbed in a different porosity range, depending on the temperature and pressure of the capture conditions. Accordingly, CO₂ capture capacities can be enhanced if the sorbent has a proper porosity development and a suitable pore size distribution. Thus, the main objective of this work is to maximize the CO₂ capture capacity at ambient temperature, elucidating which is the most suitable porosity that the adsorbent has to have as a function of the emission source conditions. In order to do so, different activated carbons have been selected and their CO₂ capture capacities have been measured. The obtained results show that for low CO₂ pressures (e.g., conditions similar to post-combustion processes) the sorbent should have the maximum possible volume of micropores smaller than 0.7 nm. However, the sorbent requires the maximum possible total micropore volume when the capture is performed at high pressures (e.g., conditions similar to oxy-combustion or pre-combustion processes). Finally, this study also analyzes the important influence that the sorbent density has on the CO₂ capture capacity, since the adsorbent will be confined in a bed with a restricted volume.     

CO2 capture efficiency in post‐combustion using MWNT‐PAA in a packed bed column

The adsorption capacity of polyaspartamide (PAA) and multi‐wall carbon nanotubes with polyaspartamide (MWNT‐PAA) was investigated through a packed bed column with the flowing of flue gas composed of 15 % CO₂, 5 % O₂ and the balance N₂. The adsorption performed at 25 °C, 110 kPa and inlet gas flow rate of 60 mL/min resulted in high CO₂ adsorption capacity of 5.70 and 10.20 mmol‐CO₂/g for PAA and MWNT‐PAA, respectively. The adsorption kinetics was very high, so 7 min were enough for the effluent gas to reach the breakthrough after saturation. The consistency of adsorbents in recurring regeneration was successful through a continuous TSA system of 10 cycle adsorption‐desorption with temperatures of 25–100 °C. The evaluation of heat through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) resulted in exothermic adsorption with heat release of 45.14 kJ/mol and 124.38 kJ/mol for PAA and MWNT‐PAA, respectively. The heat release was found favourable to promote the desorption as the temperature could rise after adsorption. This is an advantage for energy efficiency, as it depicts the potential of energy recovery. Thus, both adsorbent PAA and MWNT‐PAA were demonstrated to be promising for CO₂ adsorption capture in post‐combustion.     

Adsorption behavior and kinetics of CO2 on amine-functionalized hyper-crosslinked polymer

A hyper-crosslinked polymer (XAD-4-pc) was developed by modifying the commercial polystyrene resin (XAD-4) through a Friedel–Crafts reaction, followed by impregnation with polyethyleneimine (PEI) for CO₂ capture. The physicochemical properties of the as-synthesized adsorbents were analyzed by different characterization techniques, and the adsorption behavior of CO₂ on these adsorbents was evaluated in a self-assembled adsorption setup with gas chromatography. Experimental results found that the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area and pore volume of XAD-4-pc were significantly higher than that of XAD-4, which was favorable to the improvement of PEI loading and CO₂ adsorption. The maximum CO₂ uptake for PEI-functionalized XAD-4-pc was 3.24 mmol g⁻¹ at 25 °C. The adsorption isotherm of CO₂ on the adsorbent was well described by the Langmuir equation, and the kinetics data could be accurately described by Avrami model over the entire adsorption range. The diffusion mechanism study showed that the film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion were mainly the rate-limiting steps. Moreover, this adsorbent could be well regenerated at relatively low temperature and exhibited stable regenerability after five adsorption-regeneration cycles, showing its high potential for the capture of CO₂ from flue gases. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48479.     

Evaluation of solid sorbents as a retrofit technology for CO2 capture

Processes based upon solid sorbents are currently under consideration for post-combustion CO₂ capture. Twenty-four different sorbent materials were examined on a laboratory scale in a cyclic temperature swing adsorption/regeneration CO₂ capture process in simulated coal combustion flue gas. Ten of these materials exhibited significantly lower theoretical regeneration energies compared to the benchmark aqueous monoethanolamine, supporting the hypothesis that CO₂ capture processes based upon solids may provide cost benefits over solvent-based processes. The best performing materials were tested on actual coal-fired flue gas. The supported amines exhibited the highest working CO₂ capacities, although they can become poisoned by the presence of SO₂. The carbon-based materials showed excellent stability but were generally categorized as having low CO₂ capacities. The zeolites worked well under dry conditions, but were quickly poisoned by the presence of moisture. Although no one type of material is without concerns, several of the materials tested have theoretical regeneration energies significantly lower than that of the industry benchmark, warranting further development research.     

A novel IL/MOF nanocomposite tailored for trace SO2 efficient capture based on synergistic effects

Due to its toxicity and corrosiveness, it is of enormous significance to efficiently capture and recover sulfur dioxide (SO₂) from flue gas and natural gas. Herein, a new type of IL/MIL-0.7 composite was precisely designed to meet this challenge, which exhibits a high adsorption capacity for SO₂ (13.17 mmol g⁻¹) at 298 K and 1.0 bar while excludes almost completely carbon dioxide (CO₂, 0.27 mmol g⁻¹) and nitrogen (N₂, 0.07 mmol g⁻¹). The high IAST selectivity (at least 11,925) of IL/MIL-0.7 for SO₂/CO₂ can be achieved within the whole test pressure range. In addition, the breakthrough experiment also confirmed the excellent performance of the composite for deep removal of 2000 ppm SO₂. Furthermore, the IL/MIL-0.7 composites can maintain excellent performance after four adsorption/desorption cycles and the thermostability can up to ~450 K. Therefore, this stable IL/MOF composite has the potential application as an effective adsorbent for SO₂ removal from flue gas and natural gas.     

Development of silica‐gel‐supported polyethylenimine sorbents for CO2 capture from flue gas

In order to reduce the sorbent preparation cost and improve its volume‐based sorption capacity, the use of an inexpensive and commercially available silica gel was explored as a support to prepare a solid polyethylenimine sorbent (PEI/SG) for CO₂ capture from flue gas. The effects of the pore volume and particle size of the silica gels, molecular weight of polyethylenimine and amount of polyethylenimine loaded, sorption temperature and moisture in the flue gas on the CO₂ sorption capacity of PEI/SG were examined. The sorption performance of the developed PEI/SG was evaluated by using a thermogravimetric analyzer and a fixed‐bed flow sorption system in comparison with the SBA‐15‐supported polyethylenimine sorbent (PEI/SBA‐15). The best PEI/SG sorbent showed a mass‐based CO₂ sorption capacity of 138 mg‐CO₂/g‐sorbent, which is almost the same as that of PEI/SBA‐15. In addition, the PEI/SG gave a high volume‐based sorption capacity of 83 mg‐CO₂/cm³‐sorbent, which is higher than that of PEI/SBA‐15 by a factor of 2.6. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 58: 2495–2502, 2012     

Progress in low temperature hydrogen production with simultaneous CO2 abatement

A new process has recently been proposed and investigated for low temperature hydrogen production from hydrocarbons with simultaneous CO₂ abatement. It is based on a concept involving simultaneous hydrogen production and CO₂ removal, which uses a stationary catalyst phase and a continuously moving adsorbent phase for in situ removal of CO₂ and ex situ regeneration of adsorbent. This paper summaries the recent developments in the technology using methane (main composition of natual gas) and glycerol (main by-product of biofuels) as the model feedstocks and microsized hydrotalcite as the CO₂ adsorbent. The paper consists of an overview of the new technology, associated fundamental studies including dynamics of adsorption, hydrodynamics, solid hold-up and heat transfer, and chemical reactions. Challenges for further development of the technology and process optimisation are also briefly discussed.     

Experimental investigation of a circulating fluidized‐bed reactor to capture CO2 with CaO

Calcium looping processes for capturing CO₂ from large emissions sources are based on the use of CaO particles as sorbent in circulating fluidized‐bed (CFB) reactors. A continuous flow of CaO from an oxyfired calciner is fed into the carbonator and a certain inventory of active CaO is expected to capture the CO₂ in the flue gas. The circulation rate and the inventory of CaO determine the CO₂ capture efficiency. Other parameters such as the average carrying capacity of the CaO circulating particles, the temperature, and the gas velocity must be taken into account. To investigate the effect of these variables on CO₂ capture efficiency, we used a 6.5 m height CFB carbonator connected to a twin CFB calciner. Many stationary operating states were achieved using different operating conditions. The trends of CO₂ capture efficiency measured are compared with those from a simple reactor model. This information may contribute to the future scaling up of the technology. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 57: 000–000, 2011     

CO2 capture using some fly ash-derived carbon materials

Adsorption is considered to be one of the more promising technologies for capturing CO₂ from flue gases. For post-combustion capture, the success of such an approach is however dependent on the development of an adsorbent that can operate competitively at relatively high temperatures. In this work, low cost carbon materials derived from fly ash, are presented as effective CO₂ sorbents through impregnation these with organic bases, for example, polyethylenimine aided by polyethylene glycol. The results show that for samples derived from a fly ash carbon concentrate, the CO₂ adsorption capacities were relatively high (up to 4.5 wt%) especially at high temperatures (75 °C), where commercial active carbons relying on physi-sorption have low capacities. The addition of PEG improves the adsorption capacity and reduces the time taken for the sample to reach the equilibrium. No CO₂ seems to remain after desorption, suggesting that the process is fully reversible.     

Evaluation of SO2 oxidation and fly ash filtration by an activated carbon fluidized-bed reactor: The effects of acid modification, copper addition and operating condition

It is expected that the simultaneous removal of acid gases and particles from flue gas, using a single process and at the same temperature, will become an economical, and thus, desirable option. Accordingly, this study investigates the potential for the utilization of a fluidized-bed adsorbent/catalyst reactor for the simultaneous removal of SO₂ and fly ash from simulated flue gas. The operating conditions for the evaluation include: (1) different pre-treatments of the adsorbent/catalyst, (2) the operating parameters of adsorption/filtration and (3) the effects of simultaneous adsorption/filtration through the fluidized-bed reactor. Based on the experimental data gathered, the Brönsted acid sites were formed on the surface of activated carbon (AC) support materials after modification with nitric or sulfuric acid and it acted as anchor. This characteristic accounts for the promotion of the effects of dispersion and adsorption of the adsorbent/catalyst. Moreover, the addition of copper facilitated the oxygen transfer of SO₂ to the carbon matrix. The concentration of SO₂ removed by the fluidized-bed adsorbent/catalyst reactor decreased from 17.9 to 14.2 mg SO₂/g of adsorbent after exposure to a high concentration of fly ash. Therefore, an acid-pre-treatment of the adsorbent/catalyst is required to hasten the removal of SO₂ in the simulated flue gas. Our result shows that the acidic groups may facilitate the adsorbent/catalyst removal of SO₂ when there exist high concentrations of fly ash in the flue gas.     

Sorption studies of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>, CH<Subscript>4</Subscript>, N<Subscript>2</Subscript>, CO,O<Subscript>2</Subscript> and Ar on nanoporous aluminum terephthalate [MIL-53(Al)]

Aluminum terephthalate, MIL-53(Al), metal–organic framework synthesized hydrothermally and purified by solvent extraction method was used as an adsorbent for gas adsorption studies. The synthesized MIL-53(Al) was characterized by powder X-Ray diffraction analysis, surface area measurement using N₂ adsorption–desorption at 77 K, FTIR spectroscopy and thermo gravimetric analysis. Adsorption isotherms of CO₂, CH₄, CO, N₂, O₂ and Ar were measured at 288 and 303 K. The absolute adsorption capacity was found in the order CO₂>CH₄>CO>N₂>Ar>O₂. Henry’s constants, heat of adsorption in the low pressure region and adsorption selectivities for the adsorbate gases were calculated from their adsorption isotherms. The high selectivity and low heat of adsorption for CO₂ suggests that MIL-53(Al) is a potential adsorbent material for the separation of CO₂ from gas mixtures. The high selectivity for CH₄ over O₂ and its low heat of adsorption suggests that MIL-53(Al) could also be a compatible adsorbent for the separation of methane from methane–oxygen gas mixtures.     

Characteristics of CO2 Absorption into Aqueous Ammonia

Abstract

Aqueous ammonia was investigated as a new absorbent of the chemical absorption process for CO₂ capture from combustion flue gas. The effects of the temperature and concentration of aqueous ammonia on CO₂ absorption in a semi‐batch reactor were studied by interpreting breakthrough curves. Raman spectroscopy analysis of CO₂ loaded aqueous ammonia provided concentration changes of bicarbonate, carbonate, and carbamate as well as CO₂ sorption capacity at given time during the absorption with 13 wt% aqueous ammonia at 25°C. It was observed that carbamate formation was dominating at the early stage of absorption. Then, the bicarbonate formation took over the domination at the later stage while the carbonate remained unchanged.     

Computational screening of porous carbons,zeolites, and metal organic frameworks for desulfurization and decarburization of biogas,natural gas,and flue gas

Eighteen kinds of porous materials from carbons, zeolites, and metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have been extensively investigated for desulfurization and decarburization of the biogas, natural gas, and flue gas by using a molecular modeling approach. By considering not only the selectivity but also capacity, Na‐5A, zeolite‐like MOF (zMOF), and Na‐13X, MIL‐47 are screened as the most promising candidates for removal of sulfide in the CH₄? CO₂? H₂S and N₂? CO₂? SO₂ systems, respectively. However, for simultaneous removal of sulfide and CO₂, the best candidates are zMOF for the natural gas and biogas (i.e., CH₄? CO₂? H₂S system) and MOF‐74‐Zn for the flue gas (i.e., N₂? CO₂? SO₂ system). Moreover, the regeneration ability of the recommended adsorbents is further assessed by studying the effect of temperature on adsorption. It is found that compared to the zMOF and MIL‐47 MOFs, the Na‐5A and Na‐13X zeolites are not easily regenerated due to the difficulty in desorption of sulfide at high temperature, which results from the stronger adsorbent–adsorbate interactions in zeolites. The effect of sulfide concentration on the adsorption properties of the recommended adsorbents is also explored. We observe that the zMOF and MIL‐47 are also superior to the Na‐5A and Na‐13X for desulfurization of gas mixtures containing high sulfide concentration. This is because MOFs with larger pore volume lead to a greater sulfide uptake. The effects of porosity, framework density, pore volume, and accessible surface area on the separation performance are analyzed. The optimum porosity is about 0.5–0.6, to meet the requirements of both high selectivity and uptake. It is expected this work provides a useful guidance for the practical applications of desulfurization and decarburization. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 2928–2942, 2013     

Reduction of amine mist emissions from a pilot-scale CO2 capture process using charged colloidal gas aphrons

In the CO₂ capture process from coal-derived flue gas where amine solvents are used, the flue gas can entrain small liquid droplets into the gas stream leading to emission of the amine solvent. The entrained drops, or mist, will lead to high solvent losses and cause decreased CO₂ capture performance. In order to reduce the emissions of the fine amine droplets from CO₂ absorber, a novel method using charged colloidal gas aphron (CGA) generated by an anionic surfactant was developed. The CGA absorption process for MEA emission reduction was optimized by investigating the surfactant concentration, stirring speed of the CGA generator, and capture temperature. The results show a significant reduction of MEA emissions of over 50% in the flue gas stream exiting the absorber column of a pilot scale CO₂ capture unit.