Title: Simulation of CO2 adsorption-separation from an N2/CO2 gas mixture in a fixed Mg-MOF-74 column
Authors: Rached Ben-Mansour; Olufemi Eyitope Bamidele; Mohamed A. Habib; Abdul Malik P. Peedikakkal
Addresses: Mechanical Engineering Department, KFUPM, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia ' Mechanical Engineering Department, KFUPM, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia ' Mechanical Engineering Department, KFUPM, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia ' Chemistry Department, KFUPM, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia
Abstract: A computational study of adsorption-separation of CO2 from an N2/CO2 gas mixture is presented in this paper. A detailed one-dimensional, transient mathematical model has been formulated to include the heat and mass transfer, the pressure drop and multi-component mass diffusion. The model has been implemented on a MATLAB program using second order discretisation. Validation of the model was performed using a complete experimental data set for carbon dioxide separation using activated carbon. Simulation of the adsorption breakthrough experiment on fixed bed has been carried out to evaluate the capacity of Mg-MOF-74 for CO2 capture with varying feed gas temperature of 301 K, 323 K, 373 K and 423 K. The results show the superiority of MOF adsorbent in comparison to activated carbon. The simulated breakthrough time for CO2 on Mg-MOF-74 with feed temperature and pressure of 301 K and 1.02 bar respectively is about 500 min as compared to 50 min for activated carbon. The amount of CO2 adsorbed on Mg-MOF-74 under this condition is 6.43 mole per kilogram of adsorbent. The maximum temperature exhibited in the system is at the bed exit with a value of about 356 K after about 500 min of simulation.
Keywords: CO2; carbon dioxide; carbon adsorption; carbon capture; carbon dioxide; carbon separation; Mg-MOF-74; mathematical modelling; heat transfer; mass transfer; pressure drop; multi-component mass diffusion; simulation.
International Journal of Global Warming, 2017 Vol.11 No.2, pp.125 - 156
Received: 16 Dec 2014
Accepted: 28 Feb 2015
Published online: 12 Feb 2017 *