Temperature Swing Adsorption for Postcombustion CO2 Capture: Single- and Multicolumn Experiments and Simulations

A mathematical model used to describe cyclic adsorption processes is calibrated and validated for the simulation of temperature swing adsorption (TSA) processes applied to the capture of CO2 from a model flue gas (CO2/N-2) using zeolite 13X as sorbent material. Three types of experiments are reported in this work, all of them performed in jacketed columns packed with 13X. During these experiments, the temperature was measured at five positions along the central axis of the column, and the exit composition was measured on line by mass spectrometry. The first series of experiments were breakthrough experiments, used to characterize transport phenomena within the packed bed. The second series were heating and cooling experiments, which were used to study the heat transfer from the heating fluid in the column jacket to the bed. Lastly, cyclic TSA experiments were performed to test the model's ability to predict the cyclic steady state behavior of the column as well as the separation performance of the process.