Abstract:
The capture of carbon dioxide via Pressure/Vacuum Swing Adsorption (PSA/VPSA) has been examined experimentally and mathematically. The adopted method was a two bed/four step process, known as the Skarstrom Cycle. Pelletised and calcined SBA-15 powder has been modified with a monoamine, a diamine and a triamine and has been tested in a PSA configuration. The performance of the monoamine modified SBA-15 was more than doubled with the presence of immobilised polyamine groups (diamine/triamine modified SBA-15) extending the adsorption capacity of the material (chemisorption), but still not comparable to the performance of zeolite 13X (physisorption) in terms of performance, stability and reproducibility. These results will be compared to the performance of four Metal Organic Frameworks, ZIF-8, ZIF-67, UiO-66 and CuBTC which are innovative and promising materials with several applications. Experimentally, the performance of zeolites and amine modified mesoporous silicas has been investigated for different experimental conditions (cycle time, pressure ratio, feed/purge ratio). This work is further supported by theoretical studies of PSA which employs a mathematical model based on linear coupled macropore and micropore diffusion and, where appropriate, reaction. These simulations are performed using gProms.
