Evaluation of carbon dioxide adsorption on Malaysian coals for potential sequestration

Adsorption experiments of carbon dioxide (CO2) were contacted on two coal samples from Sungai Buloh and Silantek mines in Malaysia. A fixed bed adsorption unit was used to determine CO2 adsorption capacity of the coal samples. The experiments were conducted at different pressure ranges (5-40 bar) and temperature at 25°C. The CO2 adsorption capacity of Silantek coal sample showed adsorption capacity of 4.178 mmol/g at 40 bars and 25 °C, which is higher than Sungai Buloh sample. Different adsorption isotherms were employed to examine the experimental results, Langmuir isotherm of Silantek coal sample illustrated better correlation than Freundlich isotherm for the same sample. In contrary, Freundlich isotherm of Sungai Buloh coal sample illustrated better fitting than Longmuir isotherm correlation for the same sample. This is related to the coal rank and moisture content and ash content. © 2014 Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.