Adsorption of CO₂, CH₄, and N₂ on ordered mesoporous carbon: approach for greenhouse gases capture and biogas upgrading

Environ Sci Technol. 2013 May 21;47(10):5474-80. doi: 10.1021/es4000643. Epub 2013 May 8.

Abstract

Separation of CO₂ and N₂ from CH₄ is significantly important in natural gas upgrading, and capture/removal of CO₂, CH₄ from air (N₂) is essential to greenhouse gas emission control. Adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of CO₂, CH₄, and N₂ on an ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) sample were systematically investigated to evaluate its capability in the above two applications. The OMC was synthesized and characterized with TEM, TGA, small-angle XRD, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption measurements. Pure component adsorption isotherms of CO₂, CH₄, and N₂ were measured at 278, 298, and 318 K and pressures up to 100 kPa, and correlated with the Langmuir model. These data were used to estimate the separation selectivities for CO₂/CH₄, CH₄/N₂, and CO₂/N₂ binary mixtures at different compositions and pressures according to the ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) model. At 278 K and 100 kPa, the predicted selectivities for equimolar CO₂/CH₄, CH4/N₂, and CO₂/N₂ are 3.4, 3.7, and 12.8, respectively; and the adsorption capacities for CH₄ and CO₂ are 1.3 and 3.0 mmol/g, respectively. This is the first report of a versatile mesoporous material that displays both high selectivities and large adsorption capacities for separating CO₂/CH₄, CH₄/N₂, and CO₂/N₂ mixtures.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adsorption
  • Biofuels*
  • Carbon / chemistry*
  • Carbon Dioxide / chemistry*
  • Greenhouse Effect*
  • Methane / chemistry*
  • Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
  • Nitrogen / chemistry*
  • Thermogravimetry
  • X-Ray Diffraction

Substances

  • Biofuels
  • Carbon Dioxide
  • Carbon
  • Nitrogen
  • Methane