Pore-scale study on heat and mass transfer of electrothermal swing adsorption process into X-ray tomography reconstructed activated carbon fibre felt

Activated carbon fibre (ACF) absorbent is a promising material for capturing volatile organic compounds from gas streams. Electrothermal swing adsorption (ESA) technology was proposed to achieve the regeneration of adsorption-saturated ACF materials. A numerical study on the adsorption and electrothermal desorption processes in ACF felt at the pore scale was conducted. A 3D pore-scale lattice Boltzmann model was used to describe the momentum/heat/mass transfers coupled with the adsorption/desorption effect. Using this model, a numerical simulation was performed to investigate the heat and mass behaviours of ESA in the pore structure of ACF felt, which was reconstructed using X-ray micro tomography technology. The simulation results reveal the effects of key operation parameters on the process properties of ESA in the adsorption step and the electrothermal regeneration step. Moreover, the pore-scale study illustrates the influence of carrier gas velocity on the distribution homogeneity of the adsorbate concentration and desorption temperature. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Activated carbon fibre (ACF) absorbent shows promise in capturing volatile organic compounds, with electrothermal swing adsorption (ESA) technology achieving the regeneration of ACF materials. A numerical simulation study revealed the effects of key operation parameters on the properties of ESA, as well as the influence of carrier gas velocity on the distribution homogeneity of adsorbate concentration and desorption temperature.