Optimization of a pressure-swing adsorption process using zeolite 13X for CO2 sequestration

A pressure-swing adsorption process, which uses zeolite 13X as an adsorbent to recover and sequester carbon dioxide from mixture gas (nitrogen and carbon dioxide), is investigated through dynamic simulation and optimization. The purpose of this paper is to improve the purity of each component by finding optimal values of decision variables with a given power constraint. Langmuir isotherm parameters are calculated from experimental data of zeolite 13X and a general mathematical model consisting of a set of partial differential and algebraic equations and solved in gPROMS. The method of centered finite differences is adopted for the discretization of the spatial domains, and a reduced space SQP method is used for the optimization. As a result, the optimal conditions at cyclic steady state are obtained.