(82f) Adsorptive Filtration of Carbon Dioxide from Wet Gases Utilizing Microfibrous Filter Media Entrapped K2co3

Present commercial CO2 removal units utilize a physical solvent of alkanolamine, such as monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA), and methyldiethanolamine (MDEA). These technologies require large units and high regeneration energy requirement, while exhibiting solvent and equipment degradation. Thus, the development of a new material for a cost-effective filtration with high CO2 adsorption capacity is needed. A microfibrous entrapped sorbent is developed for CO2 removal from flue gas. A microfibrous carrier consisting of 4 and 8 ?Ým (dia.) metal fibers is utilized to entrap 150-250 ?Ým (dia.) activated carbon particulates (ACP). K2CO3 is then loaded onto the support by pseudo-incipient wetness at various loadings by varying the solution concentration. The nano-dispersed nature of K2CO3 combined with the use of small support particulates promotes high K2CO3 utilization, high contacting efficiency, and high accessibility of K2CO3. At equivalent bed volumes, K2CO3/ACP entrapped materials provide longer breakthrough times for CO2 removal compared to packed beds of K2CO3 pellets. At 87% relative humidity, maximum capacity at room temperature based on total weight of adsorbents is found to be around 0.037 g CO2 with loading of 22 wt.% K2CO3 for packed beds corresponding to 33% utilization of impregnated K2CO3. With equivalent K2CO3 loading, microfibrous entrapped CO2 sorbents show an improvement in breakthrough capacity and pressure drop. The use of microfibrous entrapped sorbents provides reduced external mass transfer resistance, enhanced adsorption rates, and lower amounts of heat required for regeneration. This novel adsorbent allows reduction in overall system weight and volume for continuous removal of trace CO2 from gas streams with high levels of relative humidity, namely a fuel processor stream.