Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
This work uses different adsorbents to analyse the pressure swing adsorption (PSA) process for producing biomethane under three performance parameters that determine product purity, material recovery, and energy efficiency. The tests were carried out based on the process parameters of a laboratory-scale plant located at the Centro Universitario de los Valles (University of Guadalajara). Five adsorbent materials were evaluated for biomethane purification, selecting four: activated carbon (AC), carbon molecular sieve (CMS), zeolite 13X, and ZIF-8 to simulate a two-column PSA process. The results showed key differences in their performance, considering purity, recovery, and energy. AC achieved a purity of 90.1% with a recovery of 57% and presented a low energy efficiency (26%). CSM stood out by reaching 96.25% purity and 89% recovery, these results were at the expense of an energy efficiency of 42%. Zeolite 13X, despite its purity of 95.53% and energy of 16%, showed limitations in recovery, reaching only 53%. Finally, ZIF-8 offered a favourable balance: 96.11% purity, 85% recovery, and an intermediate energy value of 22.5%. This study provides a key technical criterion for the evaluation of adsorbent materials with a focus on biomethane.
Villalobos et al. (Thu,) studied this question.