Performance of TSA and VSA post-combustion CO2 capture processes with a biomass waste-based adsorbent

Abstract

Carbon capture in post-combustion flue gases is vital on the grounds that most of the energy requirement of the world is supplied by non-renewable energy sources. Biomass-based CO2 adsorbents are of interest due to their high potential of adsorption capacity and contribution to the sustainable circular economy. In the current study, Temperature Swing Adsorption (TSA) and Vacuum Swing Adsorption (VSA) configurations were carried out to evaluate the CO2 capture performance of a hazelnut shell-based activated carbon adsorbent from dry simulated flue gases in cyclic operation. A fixed-bed reactor with a single column is used to test the adsorption performance for CO2 concentrations of 14% and 30% and temperatures of 30 °C and 50 °C at atmospheric pressure, which resemble the conditions of industrial processes. Various TSA and VSA configurations are designed and the influence of cyclic steps on the product (CO2) purity, recovery, productivity, and specific energy consumption at different CO2 concentration and temperature are evaluated. For the VSA process, the highest purity and recovery obtained are 92% and 100%, respectively; while they are 86% and 82% for TSA process, revealing the highest TSA cycle CO2 adsorption performance of a biomass-based adsorbent reported in literature.