Efficacious means for inhibiting the deactivation of K 2 CO 3 /AC for low-concentration CO 2 removal in the presence of SO 2 and NO 2

Abstract

Abstract K 2 CO 3 supported on activated carbon (K 2 CO 3 /AC) shows promise as a potential candidate for removing low-concentration CO 2 from environmental control and life support systems (ECLSS). However, K 2 CO 3 /AC would suffer a decreased CO 2 sorption capacity due to sorbent deactivation in acid impurities such as SO 2 and NO 2 . To solve this problem, water vapor pretreatment, KOH addition and polyethyleneimine (PEI) modification were proposed as efficacious means for improving its CO 2 sorption capacity and mitigating the sorbent deactivation in these acid impurities. CO 2 sorption performances of the pretreated and modified sorbents were evaluated in a fixed-bed reactor under simulated ECLSS conditions of 20 °C, 1.0% CO 2 , 2.0% H 2 O, 30 ppm SO 2 , 20 ppm NO 2 and balanced N 2 . The mechanisms for sorbent deactivation inhibition by water vapor pretreatment, KOH addition and PEI modification were revealed by N 2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Effects of water vapor pretreatment duration, KOH addition and PEI loading on sorbent deactivation inhibition performances were demonstrated. Furthermore, the long-term working stabilities of the pretreated and modified sorbents in impurities were evaluated. The results will provide fundamental support on practical application of K 2 CO 3 /AC for low-concentration CO 2 removal in ECLSS.