REMOVAL OF CARBON DIOXIDE BY MICROPOROUS CARBON ADSORBENTS FROM OIL PALM SHELLS

Carbon dioxide removal from gas streams has been applied widely in many industries for various purposes. Membrane separation, cryogenic separation and adsorption techniques are used world widely for the CO2 removal. Air has to be purified from CO2 in air separation plant before its liquefaction to prevent blockage in heat exchange equipments. Enrichment of methane in natural gas and biogas, which removes CO2, will enhance its calorific value. Microporous carbonaceous adsorbents have been produced from oil palm shells, which can be found easily and abundantly in the country, for the CO2 separation application. Pyroiysis, physicai and chemical activation had been applied to produce products that are capable for CO2 adsorption processes. The characteristics of adsorbents were verified for its suitabiiity and feasibility for the purpose by molecular probe anaiyticai methods. A gas chromatography unit with thermai conductivity detector (TCD) and a single column adsorber have been used for the products performance tests. Removal of CO2 from methane, nitrogen and oxygen has been tested for the capacity and selectivity on the CO2 adsorption. Process of adsorption happened in the packed column and the amount of gases adsorbed were recorded to get a breakthrough curve. The work has shown a great feasibility in using the microporous carbon adsorbents from oil palm shelis for CO2 removal in many appiications