Feasibility study of a novel pressure recovery system for CO2-COIL based on chemical absorption

Abstract

A chemical oxygen-iodine laser (COIL) is an electronic transition, low pressure, high throughput system. The use of this laser demands a suitable pressure recovery system. This paper proposed a novel pressure recovery system based on chemical absorption and the feasibility for COIL with CO₂ as buffer gas (CO₂-COIL) was investigated. The novel pressure recovery system works by chemisorbing the CO₂-COIL effluents into two fixed-beds maintained at initial temperature of around 293-323K. Compared with the cryosorption system for N₂-COIL based on physical absorption, the novel chemisorptions based pressure recovery system has a simpler logistics and a shorter run-to-run preparation time. Two kinds of solid chemo-sorbents were designed and synthesized. One was used for chemisorbing the oxidizing gases such as O₂ ,Cl₂ and I₂, another was used for chemisorbing the acidic gas such as CO₂. The capacities of the two sorbents were measured to be 3.12 mmol（O₂）/g and 3.84 mmol (CO₂) /g, respectively. It indicated that the synthesized sorbents could effectively chemosorb the CO₂-COIL effluents. Secondly, analog test equipment was set up and used to study the feasibility of the novel pressure recovery system used for CO₂-COIL. The test results showed that the novel pressure recovery system could maintain the pressure under 6 Torr for tens seconds under the continuous gas flow. It showed that the novel pressure recovery system for CO₂-COIL based on chemical absorption is feasible.