Interchangeable effect of polyols-based zeolite on the separation of CO2, CH4, and N2 gases

Abstract

The adsorptive separation process for CO2/CH4 and CH4/N2 gas separation has commercial potential, in biogas, Coalbed Methane process etc. although it remains to strive due to the absence of effective adsorbents. Zeolite NaY was used in this study due to its uniform pore structures, surface properties, and potential gas separation adsorbent. Zeolite NaY was modified by polyether polyols (PEPO) to get an adsorbent for selective separation of CO2/CH4 and CH4/N2 gas mixtures. The PXRD, FT-IR, GPC, 1H NMR, TEM, and surface area analysis were used to characterize the PEPO and PEPO-modified zeolite. The single component equilibrium adsorption desorption isotherms with PEPO modified NaY zeolites and NaY zeolite for CO2, CH4 and N2 were measured at 298, 313, and 328 K and up to 5 bar pressure. The isotherm data of CO2, CH4 and N2 were fitted in Dual Site Langmuir equations, and adsorption selectivity of CO2/CH4 and CH4/N2 gas mixtures was predicted using Ideal Adsorbed Solution Theory (IAST) method for 90:10, 50:50 (vol/vol) CH4/N2 and 80:20, 50:50 (vol/vol) CO2/CH4 feed gas mixtures representing coal bed methane gas composition and pressure conditions. The high surface area and hydroxyl groups in PEPO-modified NaY enhanced selectivity for CO2/CH4 and CH4/N2 gas separation. The selectivity predicted by the IAST method were 106.12 and 95.34 for 0.5 % PEPO-NaY (80:20 v/v and 50:50 v/v) for CO2/CH4 and 3.95 and 3.52 for 2 % PEPO-NaY (90:10 v/v and 50:50 v/v) for CH4/N2 at 298 K up to 5 bar respectively.