Atomistic simulations for adsorption and separation of flue gas in MFI zeolite and MFI/MCM-41 micro/mesoporous composite

Abstract

Adsorption of pure CO₂ and N₂ and separation of CO₂/N₂ mixture in MFI zeolite and MFI/MCM-41 micro/mesoporous composite have been studied by using atomistic simulations. Fully atomistic models of MFI and MFI/MCM-41 are constructed and characterized. A bimodal pore size distribution is observed in MFI/MCM-41 from simulated small- and broad-angle X-ray diffraction patterns. The density of MFI/MCM-41 is lower than MFI, while its free volume and specific surface area are greater than MFI due to the presence of mesopores. CO₂ is preferentially adsorbed than N₂, and thus, the loading and isosteric heat of CO₂ are greater than N₂ in both MFI and MFI/MCM-41. CO₂ isotherm in MFI/MCM-41 is similar to that in MFI at low pressures, but resembles that in MCM-41 at high pressures. N₂ shows similar amount of loading in MFI, MCM-41 and MFI/MCM-41. The selectivity of CO₂ over N₂ in the three adsorbents decreases in the order of MFI>MFI/MCM-41>MCM-41. With increasing pressure, the selectivity increases in MFI and MFI/MCM-41, but decreases in MCM-41. The self-diffusivity of CO₂ and N₂ in MFI decreases as loading increases, while in MFI/MCM-41, it first increases and then drops.

Key words： adsorption; diffusion; CO₂; flue gas; zeolite; micro/mesoporous composite

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 20736002, 20776045), the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (No. 2008AA062302), Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University of China (No. IRT0721) and the 111 Project of China (No. B08021).

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