Operational challenges of adsorbents from combustion residues

Investigation of Environmental and Operational Challenges of Adsorbents Synthesised from Industrial Grade Biomass Combustion Residues

The UK government is aiming towards a 78% greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2035 in order to keep the global temperature rise below the Paris Accord targets. Most mitigation scenarios that achieve these ambitious goals rely on BioEnergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), which plays a pivotal role in more than 85% of the pathways proposed by the International Panel on Climate Change. With the UK anticipating an increase in biomass combustion, the question of biomass waste minimisation and management is ever more pressing as evidenced by a recent UK government policy statement. Further, these biomass combustion products (BCPs) present a significant environmental (issues with secondary pollution) and economic burden, hindering widespread industrial deployment of BECCS.

Due to the specific properties of BCPs, applications in adsorption-based CO2 capture are a proposed avenue for a simultaneous solution to both environmental and economic issues.

Our lab-scale proof of concept studies have demonstrated potential for producing cost-effective BCP-derived adsorbents directly from Drax combustion residues (carbonaceous sorbents capturing 0.69 mmolCO2/g and 1.65 mmolCO2/g for zeolite-based materials).

Industrial deployment, in contrast, has yet to be achieved due to a lack of investigations into key adsorption operational variables such as particle size (which has an immense impact on the kinetics and pressure drop), and environmental aspects (i.e. disposal). Also, there is a clear need for robust adsorbent synthesis/activation routes to enable viable scale up.

This proposal aims to address these challenges (both operational and environmental) to facilitate an upwards transition in technology readiness level. This proposal builds upon our previously successful 2021 UKCCSRC Flexible Funding (EP/P026214/1) - which has successfully demonstrated the proof of concept - and aims to investigate, identify and improve the operational and environmental challenges of BCP-derived adsorbent using industrial-grade Drax BCP as a potential precursor for the synthesis of effective yet low-cost adsorbents used in post-combustion carbon capture.

This project is carried out in close collaboration with Drax power plant, UK - the largest thermal biomass combustion power plant in the world. The waste material used in this work is supplied directly by Drax and therefore, this would have an immediate impact within the UK BECCS context.

Meet the Principal Investigator(s) for the project

Dr Salman Masoudi Soltani
Dr Salman Masoudi Soltani - Dr Salman Masoudi Soltani is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Chemical Engineering at Brunel University of London. He joined the university in May 2017 as a founding member of the newly established Chemical Engineering Department, contributing to the design and development of its academic programs. A Chartered Engineer (CEng, MIChemE), Dr Masoudi Soltani has a strong background in both industrial and academic research within chemical and process engineering. He is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), UK. In his current role, he serves as the Director of Research for the Department of Chemical Engineering. Dr Masoudi Soltani's primary research focuses on Separation Processes, particularly in adsorption technologies. He has led several high-profile research projects in carbon capture and blue hydrogen production, funded by the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre (UKCCSRC), and the UK's Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ). In addition, he has undertaken numerous industrial consultancy projects, details of which are available under the "Research" section of his profile. His pilot plant-scaled research was featured in The Chemical Engineer, the flagship publication of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), in 2022. Dr Masoudi Soltani also serves as a technical advisor for JET Engineering (Anionix). Before joining Brunel University London, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Clean Fossil & Bioenergy Research Group at Imperial College London, UK (2015–2017). There, he contributed to multiple EPSRC, EU, and OECD-funded projects, including Opening New Fuels for UK Generation, Gas-FACTS, and CO2QUEST. His research focused on biomass combustion, CO₂ capture, utilisation, and process optimisation, working under the supervision of Professor Paul Fennell and in collaboration with Professor Niall Mac Dowell and Professor Nilay Shah. Prior to that, he worked as a Postdoctoral Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Research Associate at the University of Nottingham, UK (2013–2015) in collaboration with A-Gas International Ltd. In this industry-based role, he served as a Project/Process Engineer, leading the research, front-end engineering design (FEED), and development of a bespoke industrial-scale gas separation process, while being fully based at the commercial plant's site. Dr Masoudi Soltani earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Nottingham in 2014, having been awarded the university’s scholarship. His doctoral research, conducted at the University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus, focused on the synthesis and characterisation of porous carbonaceous adsorbents from recycled waste materials and their application in heavy metal removal from aqueous media.

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Project last modified 02/10/2023