• Energy Research
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Biogas upgrading is a key operation for transforming raw biogas into valuable biomethane that can be used as fuel or transported through pipelines. Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is one possible technique that can be used for upgrading. ZSM-5 with high silica/aluminum (Si/Al) ratio has a reasonable CO2/CH4 selectivity and an almost linear CO2 adsorption isotherm, which can reduce power consumption. Extrusion of zeolites uses Al-based binders which can result in a denaturation and in a decrease of Si/Al ratio, promoting a steeper CO2 isotherm and also impacting the water adsorption. In this work, we have extruded a ZSM-5 (with a Si/Al = 200) using only silica-based binder. Different samples were obtained using different extrusion paste compositions and operating conditions and their textural properties characterized. The mechanical strength of the samples as well as the CO2, CH4, and H2O adsorption equilibrium isotherms at 303–343 K were measured. Our results show that it is possible to produce extrudates with mechanical resistance comparable to (or higher than) commercial zeolite materials with surface area reductions lower than 10% and little or no impact on the CO2/CH4 selectivity.

Adsorption-based processes using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a promising option for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture from flue gases and biogas upgrading to biomethane. Here, the adsorption of CO2, methane (CH4), and nitrogen (N2) on Zn(dcpa) MOF (dcpa (2,6-dichlorophenylacetate)) is reported. The characterization of the MOF by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and N2 physisorption at 77 K shows that it is stable up to 650 K, and confirms previous observations suggesting framework flexibility upon exposure to guest molecules. The adsorption equilibrium isotherms of the pure components (CO2, CH4, and N2), measured at 273–323 K, and up to 35 bar, are Langmuirian, except for that of CO2 at 273 K, which exhibits a stepwise shape with hysteresis. The latter is accurately interpreted in terms of the osmotic thermodynamic theory, with further refinement by assuming that the free energy difference between the two metastable structures of Zn(dcpa) is a normally distributed variable due to the existence of different crystal sizes and defects in a real sample. The ideal selectivities of the equimolar mixtures of CO2/N2 and CO2/CH4 at 1 bar and 303 K are 12.8 and 2.9, respectively, which are large enough for Zn(dcpa) to be usable in pressure swing adsorption.