Intensification of post-combustion carbon dioxide capture by using advanced regeneration technologies

To tackle the problem of the increasing CO2 emissions from the combustion of fossil fuel, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is considered as the most promising solution in the short to medium term. However, the energy penalty of CO2 capture from the flue gas is the major challenge of post-combustion CO2 capture technologies. The reasons are the low concentration of CO2 in the flue gas and the current energy and capital costs of separating CO2 to attain purities of 95.5% or above, needed for its transport and storage [1-3].

Therefore, there is an unquestionable research need for more efficient technologies to capture CO2 which will allow the decrease of the carbon capture energy penalties and costs. Adsorption at low to moderate temperatures using low-cost solid sorbents is a very promising and cost effective capture technology to control CO2 emissions from large-fixed sources such as power plants, that offers potential energy savings compared to the currently employed amine scrubbing process.

Consequently, this project is focused on capturing CO2 by means of adsorption, which promising solution is based on the high CO2 capture capacity and selectivity of adsorbents, fast adsorption and desorption kinetics, good mechanical properties, and stability after repeated adsorption-desorption cycles [4-7]. The separation is achieved practically by a cyclic process where CO2 is first adsorbed on the surface of the solid material, and then it is recovered by means of thermal swing (TSA, from Thermal Swing Adsorption) or pressure swing (PSA), or the combination of both (PTSA). The difference between them lies in the strategy to regenerate the adsorbent, that can be either by changing the temperature or/and the pressure, respectively.

The main drawback of any adsorption process is the cost of the energy required to regenerate the adsorbent. Consequently, the main objective of this project is to investigate the reduction of the energy penalty of the capture process due to the regeneration of CO2 with thermal swing. Accordingly, different thermal regeneration strategies will be investigated as alternative to conventional thermal swing.

The successful candidate should have, or expect to obtain, a UK Honours degree at 2.1 or above (or equivalent) in Chemical Engineering or other cognate discipline before the start of the PhD.

Applicants should express a keen interest in pursuing a PhD in gas separation processes, must have knowledge on fundamentals of adsorption/desorption, chemical engineering processes background with knowledge of mass and energy balances, kinetics of adsorption and desorption, thermodynamics, heat and mass transfer, and good mathematical (and laboratory) skills. Knowledge on fundamentals of microwave heating, and microwave modelling knowledge is desired. Previous laboratory or any type of research experience will be a plus.

Note that the project will be mainly experimental, although it will be complemented with mathematical modelling.

The start date of the project is to be agreed with the supervisors.