Regenerative Carbon Dioxide Adsorption System Using Charcoal

摘要

A system was designed and built for testing activated charcoal as a regenerative carbon dioxide adsorbent in an atmosphere involving oxygen pressures of 240-275 mm Hg. The system gas flow rate was 160-340 liters/minute. The gas stream was composed of oxygen, humidified to 50%. Carbon dioxide was added to simulate the production rate of two men. Because of the sub-atmospheric operation, the system was a closed loop design and any carbon dioxide not adsorbed on the first pass through the charcoal continued to circulate through the system. The charcoal was subjected to an ambient room temperature of approximately 27C, and the gas stream controlled at 26.7 plus or minus 2.7C during the adsorption testing. Regeneration of the charcoal was by vacuum. The testing program demonstrated that charcoal will continue to adsorb carbon dioxide at a significant rate after repeated cycling with no apparent change or degradation. The presence of water vapor in the gas stream tends to reduce the capacity of the charcoal for adsorbing carbon dioxide. However, it is readily removed from the charcoal by vacuum and exhibits no cumulative effect on the carbon dioxide adsorptive capacity of the charcoal. (Author)