Biogas upgrading using aqueous bamboo-derived activated carbons

Yifeng Chen; Haoran Yin; Shitao Wen; Weiyue Zhang; Shengchun Hu; Kang Sun; Jianchun Jiang; Xiaoyan Ji

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2025.132055

Biogas upgrading using aqueous bamboo-derived activated carbons

Bioresour Technol. 2025 Jan 9:132055. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2025.132055. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yifeng Chen¹, Haoran Yin², Shitao Wen¹, Weiyue Zhang³, Shengchun Hu⁴, Kang Sun¹, Jianchun Jiang¹, Xiaoyan Ji⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Chemical Industry of Forest Products, CAF, Nanjing 210042, China; National Engineering Laboratory for Biomass Chemical Utilization, Nanjing 210042, China; Key and Open Laboratory of Forest Chemical Engineering, SFA, Nanjing 210042, China; Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Material, Nanjing 210042, China.
² Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
³ Zhejiang Jizhu Biotechnology Co., LTD, Huzhou 313300, China.
⁴ Institute of Chemical Industry of Forest Products, CAF, Nanjing 210042, China; National Engineering Laboratory for Biomass Chemical Utilization, Nanjing 210042, China; Key and Open Laboratory of Forest Chemical Engineering, SFA, Nanjing 210042, China; Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Material, Nanjing 210042, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ Energy Engineering, Division of Energy Science, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå 97187, Sweden. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39798813
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2025.132055

Abstract

CO₂/CH₄ separation is crucial for biogas upgrading. In this study, the bamboo-derived activated carbons (BACs) were prepared with different ratios of potassium hydroxide (KOH)/bamboo charcoal (BC), and the hybrid sorbents of aqueous BACs were developed for CO₂/CH₄ separation. Both the gas solubility and sorption rate were measured, and Henry's constant and liquid-side mass-transfer coefficient as well as the CO₂/CH₄ selectivity were calculated. Meanwhile, the comprehensive performances of aqueous BACs were evaluated using a novel index, and the cost of biogas upgrading using the aqueous BACs was estimated and compared to the commercialized technology. The results proved the effectiveness of aqueous BACs, and the comprehensive performance of 7.0 wt% aqueous BAC with the KOH/BC mass ratio of 2:1 was 4.2 times than that of H₂O, having the potential to decrease the average CO₂/CH₄ separation cost by 65.0% compared to the commercialized technology.

Keywords: CO(2)/CH(4) separation; Cost reduction; Performance; Solubility; Sorption rate.