Adsorbents for adsorption separation of CO2 and CH4: A literature review

Abstract Natural gas consisting mainly of methane is becoming increasingly prominent as a clean energy source. However, the major impurity, carbon dioxide, can adversely affect the performance of natural gas. Therefore, separating CO 2 from CH 4 is necessary to decrease the erosion of pipelines and increase the calorific value. This paper aimed at reviewing the performances, mechanisms, and novel developments of common adsorbents to adsorb pure CH 4 , pure CO 2 , and their mixtures. Several studies suggest that zeolites exhibit better separating performance than metal organic frameworks (MOFs) except the modified amine‐MIL group. Activated carbons may not be suitable adsorbents due to low selectivity between CO 2 and CH 4 . The modified amine‐MIL group are the best type of adsorbent to separate CO 2 from CH 4 and its best operating conditions are at low pressure (<2 bar), low feed composition of CO 2 , and near room temperature using pressure swing adsorption (PSA) method.