Carbon Dioxide Capture Using Sorbent-Loaded Hollow-Fiber Modules with Integrated Heat Recovery

A model of a rapid temperature swing adsorption CO2 capture module using sorbent-loaded hollow fibers is presented. The system incorporates an integrated heat recovery technique using a thermal wave to reduce the external thermal input and operational energy costs of the capture facility. The model includes a detailed heat and mass transport model for the sorbent-loaded fibers to address accurately the rapid radial kinetics of the adsorption process. The local heating and cooling of the sorbent possible with the use of coupling fluid in the bore of the fibers significantly reduces the time required for each adsorbing and desorbing phase. Results for a representative operating condition indicate that a capture facility based on the sorbent-loaded hollow fibers can achieve significantly higher sorbent productivities (∼1400%) than that of other thermally driven capture technologies with moderate energy consumption (∼5.9 MJ kg–1). The very fast cycle times (∼100 s) achievable with this adsorption process enable this high productivity that can substantially reduce the footprint of a plant-scale CO2 capture facility.