Biogas Purification: A Comparison of Adsorption Performance in D4 Siloxane Removal Between Commercial Activated Carbons and Waste Wood-Derived Char Using Isotherm Equations

Abstract

Biogas production from organic waste could be an option to reduce landfill and pollutant emissions into air, water, and soil. These fuels contain several trace compounds that are crucial for highly efficient energy generators or gas injection into the grid. The ability of adsorbents to physically remove such adsorbates was investigated using adsorption isotherms at a constant temperature. We experimentally modelled isotherms for siloxane removal. Siloxanes were considered due to their high impact on energy generators performance even at low concentrations. Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane was selected as a model compound and was tested using commercially available carbon and char derived from waste materials. The results show that recyclable material can be used in an energy production site and that char must be activated to improve its removal performance. The adsorption capacity is a function of specific surface area and porous volume rather than the elemental composition. The most common adsorption isotherms were employed to find the most appropriate isotherm to estimate the adsorption capacity and to compare the sorbents. The Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm coupled with the Langmuir isotherm was found to be the best for estimating the adsorption capacity.