CO2 recovery from flue gas by PSA process using activated carbon

An experimental study was performed for the recovery of CO2 from flue gas of the electric power plant by pressure swing adsorption process. Activated carbon was used as an adsorbent. The equilibrium adsorption isotherms of pure component and breakthrough curves of their mixture (CO2 : N2 : O2=17 : 79 : 4 vol%) were measured. Pressure equalization step and product purge step were added to basic 4-step PSA for the recovery of strong adsorbates. Through investigation of the effects of each step and total feed rate, highly concentrated CO2 could be obtained by increasing the adsorption time, product purge time, and evacuation time simultaneously with full pressure-equalization. Based on the basic results, the 3-bed, 8-step PSA cycle with the pressure equalization and product purge step was organized. Maximum product purity of CO2 was 99.8% and recovery was 34%.