Investigation on a novel post-combustion CO2 capture rotary adsorption wheel based on temperature swing adsorption

Due to the strengths on compact structure and continuously operating ability, a rotary wheel device in rotating packed-bed configuration for adsorption process based on temperature swing has been proposed to achieve CO2 capture in engineering application. The 3D simulations of the rotary adsorption wheel for post-combustion CO2 capture based on non-equilibrium model have not been reported. In this study, considering the non-equilibrium of heat and mass transfer, the mathematical modeling was performed for temperature swing adsorption process in the rotary bisectional adsorption wheel for the cooling-and-feeding process and rinsing-and-heating process. Comparison with the experimental breakthrough data on the fixed packed-bed was performed to validate the model. Distributions of temperature and mass fraction in the rotary adsorption wheel were obtained in three dimensions, based on which a reasonable arrangement of fluid ducting should be set to meet the different concentration requirement of CO2 capture. There is an optimal rotating speed to make the adsorption-outlet N2 concentration as high as possible and the desorption-outlet N2 concentration as low as possible. Whether considering the adsorption enthalpy or not in the model can greatly impact the heat and mass transfer characteristics of rotary adsorption wheel. The effects of other parameters including particle size, porosity and adsorbent materials will be further analyzed in the future study.