Temperature Swing Adsorption Using Amine Impregnated Adsorbent for CO2 Capture

• Author / Creator

  Bangar, Sahil

• Capture of carbon dioxide from flue gas using amine functionalized silica based adsorbents has shown great potential recently. Despite their stable performance, the full potential of these adsorbents has not been researched in greater depth. In this thesis, experimental study and simulation of a temperature swing adsorption process for capture of CO2 and regeneration of the adsorbent using steam were carried out. Special emphasis was given on maximizing the purity of CO2 captured using this process, so as to lower the cost of further compression required for sequestration. For simulation of the cyclic temperature swing adsorption process, experimental measurements were carried out to study the adsorbent, suitable process modeling software was chosen and cycle configurations to maximize the performance of adsorbent were developed. Experimental isotherm data was collected for the amine impregnated adsorbent and an isotherm model was fitted. Subsequently, the isotherm parameters from the fitted model were used as input data for modeling of cyclic TSA processes. A reliable adsorption process simulator was then chosen based on its ability to accurately predict the column dynamics for an adsorption process. Model equations for the one-dimensional rigorous model comprising of mass, momentum and heat balances used for the simulation of the adsorption process are detailed. The effective model predictions of the simulator were validated using an adsorption process described in the literature, since the results were discerned to be in the acceptable range, further simulations using the software were carried out. A basic 3-step TSA cycle was developed to capture CO2 using amine impregnated silica adsorbent. Since the purity of the CO2 recovered using this configuration was not very high, another 4-step cycle with steam purge was implemented. The introduction of the steam purge step improved the purity considerably while lowering the recovery marginally. Parametric studies for both the cycles were also performed to determine the best operating conditions for the process.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Temperature Swing Adsorption
  • Solid Adsorbents
  • Carbon Capture

• Graduation date

  Fall 2015

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3KK94M1M

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.