Experimental and computational investigation of adsorption performance of TC-5A and PSA-5A for manned spacecraft

Two kinds of molecular sieve materials, TC-5A and PSA-5A, were produced to satisfy with special requirement of manned space flight. Their CO2 adsorption performances were investigated and compared through two experiments, the thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) experiment and packed bed column experiment. Besides, some kinetic equations were compared according to the TGA experimental data, and their errors were analyzed. Finally, the classic linear driving force (LDF) model is improved to the new Avrami’s model, and two models are analyzed based on the packed bed data. The TGA data shows that the CO2 loading has an approximately linear relationship with the CO2 concentration, and the best fit adsorption temperature range is from 283 to 303 K. The packed bed column results show that water vapor in air can affect the CO2 adsorption performance badly. The new Avrami’s model is proved more suitable to reflect the complex adsorption mechanism for two molecular sieves. The materials are proved having much better adsorption capacity than the other adsorbents with room temperature and low CO2 concentration (⩽1.0% in volume), and they can meet the aerospace requirements. This work will benefit the optimal design and simulation of the air revitalization (AR) system for Chinese manned spacecraft.