Adsorption on Activated Carbons of Five Selected Volatile Organic Compounds Present in Biogas: Comparison of Granular and Fiber Cloth Materials

Abstract

The adsorption of a selected panel of five volatile organic compounds, common in biogas, on four different activated carbons was evaluated in laboratory-batch experiments. The experiments were performed with a synthetic biogas. The four tested commercial adsorbents consisted of two granular and two fiber cloth activated carbons. The adsorptions were satisfactorily fitted by the Langmuir−Freundlich model and related to the inherent porosity characteristics of the adsorbents. The most porous adsorbents showed the best compromise in adsorption capacities for the five compounds, but the adsorption kinetics confirmed the importance of fiber cloth morphology in activated carbon materials. The early step of thermal regeneration was investigated and suggested an optimal temperature of regeneration higher than 200 °C for any carbon, despite being partially hampered by the formation of non-volatile compounds.