Abstract
This paper investigates the potential of pristine and acid-treated olivine as a substrate for CO2 capture using a vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) process from the gas-solid phase. The experiments tested the isotherm of pure CO2 adsorption with partial pressure from 10−5 to 1 bar at ambient temperature. The CO2 adsorption capacity and actual expected working capacity (EWC) curves of pristine and acid-treated olivine were determined. Isotherm studies predict that physisorption dominates chemisorptions at ambient temperatures. The adsorption capacity enhances with the increase of specific surface area, pore volume, and the appearance of Mg complexed on the mineral’s surface. Actual EWC studies showed that acid-treated olivine is an adsorbent choice for the VSA process, due to enhanced CO2 adsorption capacities compared to olivine and the potential for 100% recovery of CO2 during the regeneration process. Pristine olivine is not suitable for the VSA process because of bad regenerability, but it can be used in capturing and sequestering dilute CO2 in process streams. Our research reveals excellent viability for the application of VSA in the area of CO2 capture using pristine olivine and acid-treated olivine.
Highlights
The rapid increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the atmosphere by human activities has led to serious environmental problems, such as global warming and ocean surface acidification [1]
This is in agreement with the pretreatment of olivine by mechanical activation, which generates a greater amount of fines in order to accelerate the downstream leaching and carbonation process [35]
Freundlich isotherm model produces the best fit for the CO2 adsorption isotherm and the Temkin isotherm the best fit for the CO2 desorption isotherm on pristine olivine
Summary
The rapid increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the atmosphere by human activities has led to serious environmental problems, such as global warming and ocean surface acidification [1]. Carbon dioxide capture and sequestration (CCS) is generally recognized as the quickest and the most environmentally benign way of reducing CO2 concentration at present [2]. CO2 separation from the flue gas of power plants or natural gases, and storage in geological reservoirs. In all CO2 sequestration methods, CO2 mineral sequestration can guarantee the permanent and environmentally-friendly storage of CO2 [8]. One possible way of combining CO2 capture and sequestration is through the use of mineral-adsorbents for CO2 separation [7,9]
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