Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Nov 15;27(22):7882.
doi: 10.3390/molecules27227882.

Design and Performance of an Adsorption Bed with Activated Carbons for Biogas Purification

Giulia Molino  1 , Marta Gandiglio  1 , Sonia Fiorilli  2 , Andrea Lanzini  1   3 , Davide Drago  1 , Davide Papurello  1   3
Affiliations

Design and Performance of an Adsorption Bed with Activated Carbons for Biogas Purification

Giulia Molino et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Organic waste can be efficiently converted into energy using highly efficient energy systems, such as SOFCs coupled to the anaerobic digestion process. SOFC systems fed by biogenous fuels, such as biogas or syngas, suffer long-term stability due to trace compound impacts. It follows that, a mandatory gas cleaning section is needed to remove these pollutants at lower concentrations. This work investigates the adsorption mechanism for micro-contaminant removal through experimental results achieved using solid sorbents. Samples of different sorbent materials were analyzed in the laboratory to determine their performances in terms of sulfur (mainly hydrogen sulfide) and siloxanes (mainly D4-Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane) adsorption capacities. The analysis shows that the chemical composition of the samples influences the adsorption of H2S (i.e., presence of calcium, iron, copper), while the effect of their textural properties mainly influences the adsorption of siloxane compounds, such as D4. A quantitative analysis was performed considering the influence of gas velocity on adsorption capacity. By increasing the biogas velocity (+45% and +89%), there was an indirect correlation with the H2S adsorption capacity (-27% and -44%). This identified an aspect related to the residence time required to be able to remove and retain the trace compound. The results obtained and summarized were used to develop a strategy for the removal of trace compounds in large-scale plants, e.g., for water purification.

Keywords: SOFC; adsorption; biogas; purification.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
R8G SEM images.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The layout of the experimental apparatus.
Figure 3
Figure 3
S BET correlation with D4 adsorption capacity.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Micropore volume correlation with D4 adsorption capacity.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Total pore volume correlation with D4 adsorption capacity.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Calcium oxide effect on H2S adsorption.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Iron effect on H2S adsorption.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Potassium oxide effect on H2S adsorption (AC as received).
Figure 9
Figure 9
Calcium oxide effect on H2S adsorption (AC as received).
Figure 10
Figure 10
Iron effect on H2S adsorption (AC as received).
Figure 11
Figure 11
Copper oxide effect on H2S adsorption (AC as-received).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lanzini A., Madi H., Chiodo V., Papurello D., Maisano S., Santarelli M., van herle J. Dealing with fuel contaminants in biogas-fed solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) plants: Degradation of catalytic and electro-catalytic active surfaces and related gas purification methods. Prog. Energy Combust. Sci. 2017;61:150–188. doi: 10.1016/j.pecs.2017.04.002. - DOI
    1. Tait S., Harris P.W., McCabe B.K. Biogas recovery by anaerobic digestion of Australian agro-industry waste: A review. J. Clean. Prod. 2021;299:126876. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126876. - DOI
    1. Chew K.R., Leong H.Y., Khoo K.S., Vo D.-V.N., Anjum H., Chang C.-K., Show P.L. Effects of anaerobic digestion of food waste on biogas production and environmental impacts: A review. Environ. Chem. Lett. 2021;19:2921–2939. doi: 10.1007/s10311-021-01220-z. - DOI
    1. Carnevale E., Lombardi L. Comparison of different possibilities for biogas use by Life Cycle Assessment. Energy Procedia. 2015;81:215–226. doi: 10.1016/j.egypro.2015.12.088. - DOI
    1. Santarelli M., Briesemeister L., Gandiglio M., Herrmann S., Kuczynski P., Kupecki J., Lanzini A., Llovelld F., Papurello D., Spliethoff H., et al. Carbon recovery and re-utilization (CRR) from the exhaust of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC): Analysis through a proof-of-concept. J. CO2 Util. 2017;18:206–221. doi: 10.1016/j.jcou.2017.01.014. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources