The Removal of CO2 from Cement Plant Flue Gas by Sabzevar Natural Clinoptilolite

After the onset of the industrial revolution, the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increased rapidly. Global warming is caused by the emission of greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide emissions are the most important cause of global warming. Now, there are several methods to remove carbon dioxide from gas streams. One of the proposed methods is the use of zeolites as the adsorbent which can separate CO2 using molecular sieve method. In this study, CO2 removal from Sabzevar Cement plant flue gas by Sabzevar zeolite was investigated.For this purpose, a laboratory - scale column was made and the effect of three factors including the size of zeolite, height-to-diameter ratio of the column (L/D), and gas inlet pressure were investigated in three levels using Taguchi method. ANOVA results showed that in the range of variables, the size of zeolite is the most important factor on the adsorption process. Also, L/D factor had a significant effect on the adsorption process. Under the obtained optimum conditions that involved the size of zeolite 2-2.36 mm, L/D 10.8,gas inlet pressure 90-98 kPa, about 80% of CO2 was removed from the flue-gas after 10 minutes and more than 60% of it was also removed after one hour by the zeolite column.