Measuring heat capacity of activated carbons for CO2 capture

Evaluation of the CH4/CO2 separation by adsorption on coconut shell activated carbon: Impact of the gas moisture on equilibrium selectivity and adsorption capacity

Upgrading biogas to biomethane is of great interest to change the energy matrix by feeding the renewable fuel produced from biomass waste into natural gas grids or directly using it to replace fossil fuels. The study aimed to assess the adsorption equilibrium of CH4, CO2, and H2O on a coconut-shell activated carbon (CAC 8X30) to provide data for further studies on its efficiency in upgrading biogas by Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA). The adsorbent was characterized, and equilibrium parameters were estimated from monocomponent CH4, CO2, and H2O equilibrium isotherms. Binary and ternary equilibrium isotherms were simulated, and the selectivity and adsorption capacity of the CAC 8X30 were calculated in dry and wet conditions and then compared with zeolite 13X as a reference material. Regarding characterization, Nitrogen and Hydrogen Physisorption results indicated that 94 % of the pore volume is concentrated in the region of micropores. The adsorption affinity with CAC 8X30 estimated from monocomponent isotherms was in the order KH20>KCO2>KCH4. IAST-Langmuir model simulations presented good agreement with experimental binary equilibrium data. Further simulations indicated equilibrium selectivity for CO2 over CH4 (e.g., 4.7 at 1 bar and 298 K for a mixture of CH4/CO2, 60/40 vol%), which increased in the presence of moisture, indicating its suitability for upgrading humid biogas. Simulations for zeolite 13X suggested that the material is unsuitable in the presence of water vapor but presents higher selectivity than the CAC 8X30 in dry conditions. Hence, the integration of both materials might be helpful for biogas upgrading.

Electrophysical Properties and Heat Capacity of Activated Carbon Obtained from Coke Fines

This paper studies the dependence of the specific heat capacity (Cp) of activated carbon obtained by the activation of coke fines on temperature (T, K) and the dependence of electrical resistance (R, Om) on temperature (T, K). In the course of the work, it was found that in the temperature range of 298.15-448 K on the curve of dependence Cp - f(T) at 323 K there is a jump in heat capacity, associated with a phase transition of the second kind. Measurements of the temperature dependence of electrical resistance on temperature were also carried out, which showed that activated carbon in the temperature range of 293-343 K exhibits metallic conductivity, turning into a semiconductor in the temperature range of 343-463 K. The calculation of the band gap showed that the resulting activated carbon is a semiconductor with a moderately narrow band gap. The satisfactory agreement of the phase transition temperatures on the curves of the temperature dependences of the heat capacity on temperature (323 K) and on the curves of the dependences of electrical resistance and the relative permittivity on temperature (343 K) indicates the nature of this phase transition, i.e., at a temperature of 323 K, the change in heat capacity is associated with the transition from semiconductor conductivity to metallic.

Electrospun carbon nanofibers with multi-aperture/opening porous hierarchical structure for efficient CO2 adsorption

HYPOTHESIS

Carbonaceous materials are believed to be excellent source for developing essential vessels for carbon dioxide (CO₂) adsorption. However, most of the carbonaceous materials used for CO₂ capture have particle form, which is hard to recycle and also may cause choking of the gas pipes. Additionally, they also either require chemical activation or attachment of any functional groups for proficient CO₂ capture. Thus, facile fabrication of multi-aperture porous carbon nanofiber (CNF) based CO₂ sorbent via combination of three simple steps of electrospinning, washing, and carbonization, may be an effective approach for developing efficient sorbents for CO₂ capture.

EXPERIMENT

PAN/PVP composite solution was electrospun, PVP was used as pore forming template and PAN was opted as nitrogen rich precursor for carbon during electrospinning process. Selective removal of PVP from the electrospun PAN/PVP fiber matrix prior to carbonization generated highly rough and extremely porous PAN nanofibers, which were then carbonized to develop multi-aperture/opening porous carbon nanofibers (PCNF) with ultra-small pores with average pore diameter of ~0.71 nm.

FINDINGS

Synthesized PCNF exhibited high CO₂ gas selectivity (S = 20) and offered superior CO₂ adsorption performance of 3.11 mmol/g. Moreover, no apparent change in mass for up to 50 cycles of CO₂ adsorption/desorption unveil the long-term stability of synthesized PCNF, making them a potential candidate for CO₂ adsorption application.