Effect of water on CO2 adsorption with activated carbon

Adsorption is considered to be one promising technology for post-combustion CO₂ capture from flue gas. Activated carbon with the hydrophobic nature is one of the most common used adsorbents. In the present study, the effect of water on CO₂ adsorption property of a commercial activated carbon was investigated. The breakthrough adsorption experiments were conducted in a small-scale fixed-bed column under humid conditions, including cyclic adsorption experiments with wet feed gas and breakthrough experiments with wet activated carbons of different water loading. The results show that the CO₂ adsorption capacity of activated carbon was negatively affected by the presence of water.