New method accurately predicts carbon dioxide equilibrium adsorption isotherms

Among the methods that are being developed to date for CO2 capture and separation, carbon dioxide adsorption is of great interest due to its low energy consumption, low equipment cost and easiness for application. In this work, a simple method which is easier than existing approaches requiring more complicated and longer computations is presented to accurately predict the carbon dioxide adsorption isotherms for a microporous material as a function of temperature and partial pressure of carbon dioxide. The method appears promising and can be extended for CO2 capture as well as for separation of wide range of adsorbents and microporous materials including several molecular sieves merely by the quick readjustment of tuned coefficients. The proposed method showed consistently accurate results across the proposed pressure and temperature ranges. Predictions showed an average absolute deviation of 1.4% compared to existing Sips and Langmuir equations which show an average absolute deviations of 2.3% and 4%, respectively. The proposed method is superior owing to its accuracy and clear numerical background, wherein the relevant coefficients can be retuned quickly for various cases. This simple-to-use approach can be of immense practical value for the engineers and scientists to have a quick check on adsorption capacities of a given adsorbent at various temperatures and pressures without the necessity of any experimental measurements. In particular, personnel dealing with regulatory bodies of greenhouse gas control and process industries would find the proposed approach to be user friendly involving transparent calculations with no complex expressions. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.