Potassium Carbonate Supported on gamma-Alumina Sorbent Regeneration in Fluidized Bed Reactor for Carbon Dioxide Capture Technology

Abstract

Nowadays, the world is facing severe climate change due to the rapid increase in the world population and the continuing growth of the economy and industry. These lead to substantial greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide, which causes global warming. Thus, carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture becomes an essential technology for mitigating adverse effects on the atmosphere. The solid sorbent is an appropriate alternative for CO₂ capture because it is cheap, environmentally benign, and recyclable. In this study, solid-sorbent regeneration using potassium carbonate supported on gamma-alumina in a fluidized bed reactor was investigated. The effects of operating variables of solid sorbent regeneration were studied by varying the temperatures of 100, 200, and 300 degrees Celsius and pressures in the range from 0 to 1 atmospheric pressure. The results showed that regeneration temperature had a positive effect and initial pressure had a negative effect on the sorbent regeneration, respectively. The sorbent regeneration can be enhanced by increasing the regeneration temperature and decreasing the initial pressure. The optimal condition for sorbent regeneration was at the temperature of 300 degrees Celsius and initial pressures of 0.35 bar. Kinetic studies of the sorbent regeneration were also conducted, and obtained a pseudo-second-order model to be the best-fit model.