CO2 capture by temperature swing adsorption in a sound-assisted fluidized bed: working capacity as affected by temperature and CO2 partial pressure

Even though the performances of CO2 adsorbent materials for temperature swing adsorption (TSA) are typically assessed based on the equilibrium adsorption capacity, the actual feasibility of a sorbent in real applications cannot be reliably inferred from only this parameter. Indeed, more than the maximum CO2 uptake achievable at equilibrium, it is necessary to know the actual amount of CO2 that can be captured in a full adsorption/desorption cycle, namely the difference between the amount of CO2 adsorbed under adsorption and desorption conditions, which is defined as the CO2 working capacity. In this work, dynamic breakthrough and regeneration tests have been performed using a commercial activated carbon in a lab-scale TSA sound-assisted fluidized bed apparatus in order to experimentally evaluate the CO2 working capacity. In particular, the effect of adsorption/desorption temperatures (18 - 150 °C) and CO2 partial pressure (0.05 - 0.20 atm) has been evaluated.