Investigation of CO2 capture on various activated carbons

Abstract

Over the past years, there is a continuous increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, namely CO2. The numerous effects of this impact exceed what nature can handle. Hence, various measures have been implemented to reduce CO2 emissions. One of these measures include Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) which is a process of capturing waste CO2 and storing it underground. Activated Carbon (AC) and Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are widely used in this process due to its porous properties and adsorption capacity. Thus, this project seeks to investigate the porous characteristics of the various adsorbents and then determine the better adsorbent. In this report, charcoal and aluminium fumarate were studied with experimental pressure limited to 10 bars and at non-cryogenic conditions (298K) using a volumetric set-up. XRD and SEM methods are used to analyse the physical properties of the material, such as the pore structures, surface area and pore volume. Based on the experimental results, it has been observed that the adsorption capabilities of charcoal norit are higher than that of Aluminium Fumarate (AlF). Since Aluminium Fumarate has higher gravimetric and volumetric uptake, further studies should be done to synthesise the best MOF to enhance the adsorption uptake of CO2 on MOFs.