Based on adsorbent carbon sheet material At Material Methods LLC we use a fibrillated polymer binder to
form powdered materials in a self-supported, flexible sheet form.
The binder is about 10% wt, and its fibrillated form ensures that
the gas has free access to the particles surface. The material
is flexible and can be spiral-rolled as a parallel passage contactor.
We tested sheet-formed materials made from carbon nanoparticles
(< 0.1 micron) or activated carbon particles (< 50 micron)
as parallel passa ge contactors components for separation of 1
– 2% CO2 (vol/vol) from N2 at atmospheric pressure and room
temperature. Due to the small thickness of carbon sheets and high
accessibility of carbon particles, the gas diffusion limitations
are sensibly lowered, and adsorption is much faster, which results
in a sharper mass transfer zone and larger number of theoretical
plates. 
Specifications The following table shows the range of characteristics Parallel
Passage Contactor made with adsorbent carbon sheets. We used activated
carbon from various sources. Depending on the initial properties
of the activated carbon, the carbon packing density, the adsorption
capacity per canister volume, and the gas flow permeability (or
associated pressure drop) may vary within the limits outlined
below. A polypropylene mesh was used as an inert spacer.
| Form of presentation |
Cylindrical canister,
normally 10 cm long, 2.22 cm diameter; Total useful volume:
36.2 cm3 |
| Active Material |
Carbon sheet (manufactured from activated
carbon particulates or mixtures of activated carbon particulates
and carbon black nanoparticles) |
| Sheet thickness |
0.2 – 0.3 mm |
| Sheet length |
75 – 100 cm |
| Carbon packing density |
0.25 – 0.45 g carbon / cm3
canister |
| Total amount of active material |
10 – 15 g carbon adsorbent sheet
per canister |
| Air permeability |
200 – 1000 Darcy |
| CO2 adsorption capacity |
0.007 – 0.009 mmol/g (at 7.6
Torr CO2 in N2)
0.010 – 0.012 mmol/g (at 15.2 Torr CO2 in
N2) |
| CO2 adsorption density
|
0.030 – 0.040 mmol/cc (at 7.6
Torr CO2 in N2)
0.020 – 0.045 mmol/cc (at 15.2 Torr CO2 in
N2) |
| Number of theoretical plates for CO2/N2
separation |
10 – 30 at 425 cm/min (1.5 L/min)
3 – 7 at 1265 cm/min (4.5 L/min) |
| Pressure drop per stage |
0.05 – 0.20 Torr at 425 cm/min
(1.5 L/min)
0.30 – 2.00 Torr at 1265 cm/min (4.5 L/min) |
|
