Document Type : Special issue

Authors

• M. Abdollahi ¹
• A.R. Sadri ²
• Sh. Fatemi ¹
• M. Fakhroleslam ²

¹ School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

² Process Engineering Department, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) for CO₂ capture has been a focus of significant research efforts aimed at developing innovative CO2 adsorbent materials. In this study, three adsorbents (MAF-66, AC, and CMS) were utilized for capturing CO₂ from flue gas through the VSA process, and their performances were compared. The adsorption equilibrium and kinetics data were gathered from recent literature. A four-step VSA cycle was employed to assess the adsorbents' performance for CO₂ capture, with a molar feed composition of CO₂:N₂ at 15:85%. Simulations of two-colums VSA lab-scales with different adsorbents were conducted. The operating conditions such as total feed flowrate, feed composition, feed pressure, temperature, and vacuum pressure were kept constant, and the impact of the adsorbent mass on recovery and productivity was analyzed. The simulation results indicated that both recovery and productivity decreased with increasing adsorbent mass. Furthermore, the necessary amount of each adsorbent to achieve a purity of 99.5% was determined. The modeling outcomes suggested that the VSA process employing MAF-66, CMS, and AC adsorbents would require 1.25, 3.19, and 8.2 grams of the adsorbent, respectively, to achieve N₂ purity of 99.5%. Taking into account parameters such as recovery, productivity, and energy consumption, MAF-66 emerged as the most effective adsorbent in this study.

Keywords

• VSA process
• MAF-66
• AC
• CMS
• Flue gas
• CO2 capture
• Simulation

Main Subjects

• Separation Technology,