Carbonic anhydrase-facilitated CO2 absorption with polyacrylamide buffering bead capture

A novel CO2 separation concept is described wherein the enzyme carbonic anhydrase (CA) is used to increase the overall rate of CO2 absorption after which hydrated CO2 reacts with regenerable amine-bearing polyacrylamide buffering beads (PABB). Following saturation of the material's immobilized tertiary amines, CA-bearing carrier water is separated and recycled to the absorption stage while CO2-loaded material is thermally regenerated. Process application of this concept would involve operation of two or more columns in parallel with thermal regeneration with low-pressure steam taking place after the capacity of a column of amine-bearing polymeric material was exceeded. PABB CO2-bearing capacity was evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) for beads of three acrylamido buffering monomer ingredient concentrations: 0 mol/kg bead, 0.857 mol/kg bead, and 2 mol/kg bead. TGA results demonstrate that CO2-bearing capacity increases with increasing PABB buffering concentration and that up to 78% of the theoretical CO2-bearing capacity was realized in prepared PABB samples (0.857 mol/kg recipe). The highest observed CO2-bearing capacity of PABB was 1.37 mol of CO2 per kg dry bead. TGA was also used to assess the regenerability of CO2-loaded PABB. Preliminary results suggest that CO2 is partially driven from PABB samples at temperatures as low as 55 °C, with complete regeneration occurring at 100 °C. Other physical characteristics of PABB are discussed. In addition, the effectiveness of bovine carbonic anhydrase for the catalysis of CO2 dissolution is evaluated. Potential benefits and drawbacks of the proposed process are discussed.