Adsorption of CO2, CH4, and H2O in Zeolite ZSM-5 Studied Using In Situ ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy

Biogas and natural gas are interesting fuels with high H/C ratio. However, these gases frequently contain carbon dioxide and water which lowers the heat value of the gas and may induce corrosion. Therefore, the development of more efficient processes, such as membrane processes and improved adsorbents, for the separation of carbon dioxide and water from biogas and natural gas is of great importance. Zeolite ZSM-5 membranes are promising for this separation which is controlled by the adsorption and diffusion of the different species in the zeolite. Multicomponent adsorption data are therefore required for development of new membrane and adsorption processes. In the present work, the adsorption of water, carbon dioxide, and methane in a Na-ZSM-5 zeolite film at various temperatures was studied by in situ Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy for the first time. Adsorption isotherms were retrieved from the experimental data and the Langmuir model fitted the isotherms very well. Limiting heat of adsorption was determined from the Henrys law regime and the values determined agreed well with previously reported data. A few experiments were conducted with multicomponent mixtures and the experimentally determined amounts adsorbed were compared with values predicted by the Ideal Adsorbed Solution Theory (IAST). It was found that for the binary mixture of carbon dioxide and methane there was good agreement between the experimental values and those predicted by the IAST. However, when water was also introduced, the IAST could not fully capture the adsorption behavior of the multicomponent mixture, probably because the adsorbed phase is not ideal. These findings are in line with previous reports for adsorption in zeolites. The multicomponent adsorption behavior of this system will be further investigated in forthcoming work.