Multi-physics analysis of a packed bed column for CO2 capturing

Abstract

As concerns over the environmental impact of rising CO2 emissions such as global warming, CCUS (CO2 capture, utilization and storage) is becoming important. While there are various ways to capture and separate CO2 from gas streams, physical adsorption methods with packed beds are a promising approach because the methods provides high purity CO2. In this study, we have developed a physical model of the packed bed column for CO2 capturing to understand heat and mass transfer occurring inside the column. By calculating and analyzing the model, we found that the temperature field inside the column determines characteristic profiles of breakthrough curves. As a result, an effective usage of adsorption capacity has strong dependence on the column diameter under constant space velocity of inlet gas.