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Preparation of ultramicroporous volume carbon using high-speed ball-milling and its selective adsorption of CH4 in low-concentration coalbed methane

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Abstract

Reasonable design of adsorbents for separating and purifying CH4 in coalbed methane is important to achieve sustainable development. However, KOH activation, the most widely used method for preparing activated-carbon adsorbents, requires the addition of a high proportion of KOH, which has disadvantages such as high cost and corrosion. In this study, a low proportion of KOH/KMnO4 is used as an activator and a mechanical ball-milling method is used to prepare cellulose-based microporous carbon for the selective adsorption of CH4 in low-concentration coalbed methane. The prepared microporous carbon has a large ultramicropore volume and narrow pore size distribution. The Vmic (<1 nm) of ACQ60 is 0.39 cm3/g, and the most probable pore size is 0.42 nm. At 273 K and 101.3 kPa, the CH4 adsorption capacity of this sample is up to 3.22 mmol/g. Ideal adsorption solution theory simulations show that CH4/N2 selectivity is 7.82. The ACQ60 regeneration adsorption performance was evaluated via a dynamic penetration experiment. After six cycles, the CH4 penetration time difference was found to be minor. This study serves as a reference for the excellent performance of carbon materials with rich narrow microporous structures applied to the effective separation of CH4 in low-concentration coalbed methane.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant 22068009), Science and Technology Support Plan Projects of Guizhou Province (Grant (2018) 2192), Scientific and Technological Innovation Talents Team of Guizhou (2018–5607), Science and Technology Foundation of Guizhou Province (2017–7254), One hundred Person Project of Guizhou Province (No. 20165655), Innovation Group Project of Education Department in Guizhou Province (No. 2021010).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou, China

    Chen Huang, Meng Han, Li Zhang, Wei Dang, Lan Luo, Yongyong Shi, Chunliang Yang, Meng Wang, Hongyan Pan & Qian Lin

  2. Guizhou Key Laboratory for Green Chemical and Clean Energy Technolog, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou, China

    Chen Huang, Meng Han, Li Zhang, Wei Dang, Lan Luo, Yongyong Shi, Chunliang Yang, Meng Wang, Hongyan Pan & Qian Lin

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  1. Chen Huang
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Correspondence to Hongyan Pan or Qian Lin.

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Huang, C., Han, M., Zhang, L. et al. Preparation of ultramicroporous volume carbon using high-speed ball-milling and its selective adsorption of CH4 in low-concentration coalbed methane. J Mater Sci 57, 6914–6928 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-022-07078-y

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