CO₂ Capture by Low-Cost Date Pits-Based Activated Carbon and Silica Gel

The rising levels of CO₂ in the atmosphere are causing escalating average global temperatures. The capture of CO₂ by adsorption has been carried out using silica gel type III and prepared activated carbon. The date pits-based activated carbon was synthesized using a tubular furnace by physical activation. The temperature of the sample was increased at 10 °C/min and the biomass was carbonized under N₂ flow maintained continuously for 2 h at 600 °C. The activation was performed with the CO₂ flow maintained constantly for 2 h at 600 °C. The temperature, feed flow and adsorbate volume were the parameters considered for CO₂ adsorption. The success of CO₂ capture was analyzed by CO₂ uptake, efficiency based on column capacity, utilization factors and the mass transfer zone. The massively steep profiles of the breakthrough response of the AC demonstrate the satisfactory exploitation of CO₂ uptake under the conditions of the breakthrough. The SG contributed to a maximal CO₂ uptake of 8.61 mg/g at 298 K and C_o = 5% with F = 5 lpm. The enhanced CO₂ uptake of 73.1 mg/g was achieved with a column efficiency of 0.94 for the activated carbon produced from date pits at 298 K. The AC demonstrated an improved performance with a decreased mass transfer zone of 1.20 cm with an enhanced utilization factor f = 0.97 at 298 K. This finding suggests that a date pits-based activated carbon is suitable for CO₂ separation by adsorption from the feed mixture.