Structured Sorbent Optimization for CO ₂ Adsorption: Experimental Validation and Predictive Modeling of Adsorption Capacity and Power Consumption

CO 2 adsorption using dry solid sorbents is a promising alternative to the amine-based CO 2 capture technology. However, conventional adsorption-based technologies involving packed beds often suffer from low heat and mass transfer rates, high pressure drops, and significant attrition, limiting their scalability for commercial applications. This limitation can be addressed by employing structured sorbents with improved CO 2 capture efficiency. In this work, three different zeolite 13X structures were used for CO 2 adsorption. The 3D printing technique was used to design and fabricate the sorbent structures. Structural, textural, and mechanical properties, equilibrium adsorption capacities, and thermal properties of the monolith structures were measured. CO 2 adsorption behavior, bed temperature distribution, and pressure drop across the bed were analyzed for all three 3D printed structures and compared with those of conventional packed-bed reactors. The effect of reactor dimension on the adsorption performance was also investigated by scaling up the 3D printing process to produce structures of 4.5 cm in diameter. In addition, a pseudo-2D mathematical model capable of predicting the adsorption performance of various channel geometries was developed and validated with experimental results. Structured sorbents exhibited lower pressure drops and improved thermal management compared with conventional sorbents such as powders and pellets.