Adsorption of carbon dioxide on monoethanolamine (MEA)-impregnated kenaf core fiber by pressure swing adsorption system (PSA)

Abstract

Emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) becomes a major concern in combating issues of global warming. The strategy to reduce the concentration of CO2 could be achieved by executing carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology such as adsorption. This study presents the used of kenaf as a green source for CO2 adsorption material. The modification of MEA on kenaf is a novelty work to enhance the capacity of adsorbent since MEA has been proved to have potential in separating CO2 in industrial applications. In this work, 10 wt % of MEA has been impregnated on kenaf via wet impregnation method. The adsorption of CO2 study was conducted by passing CO2/N2 mixture in a ratio of 30:70 in a Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) system with a pressure up to 1.5 bar at ambient temperature. Result obtained via SEM analysis shows that the morphology of kenaf was affected after modification with MEA. However, the presence of MEA on kenaf has improved the CO2 adsorption capacity by 16 %. In addition, the adsorption equilibrium data for kenaf and MEA modified kenaf are well fitted in Freundlich isotherm model at low pressure and well fitted in Langmuir model at higher pressure. This study indicates that the introduction of MEA on kenaf could enhance the CO2 adsorption process. © 2014 Penerbit UTM Press. All rights reserved.