Relevance of an organic solvent for absorption of siloxanes

Abstract

A wide range of siloxanes exist but the most abundant in biogas are Hexamethyldisiloxane (L2) and Octamethyltrisiloxane (L3) as linear siloxanes and Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) as a cyclic siloxane. In order to remove volatile organic compound from biogas, different processes can be used. A promising process for siloxane removal is their absorption in an organic solvent. In this work, three oils were tested to absorb the selected siloxanes: silicone oil 47V20, Seriola 1510 and Polyalphaolefin. Initially, the characterization of these oils was realized by measuring their viscosities and densities, depending on temperature. The second time, the absorption capacity of the siloxanes by selected oils was characterized through the determination of their Henry's constants, but also owing to the implementation of a wet-wall column. Both Henry's constants and removal efficiencies in continuous regime revealed that silicone oil (47V20) can be considered as the most efficient oil among the three selected siloxanes. Moreover, the cyclic siloxane (D4) showed more affinity with oils than linear siloxanes. Silicone oil 47V20 appeared to be the best oil (intermediate price 14 €/L, low viscosity, low volatility, chemical inertness (no corrosion) and resistance to high and low temperatures).

Keywords:

• biogas
• siloxanes
• absorption
• organic phase
• Henry's constant

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Diane Thomas from FPMs (Faculté Polytechnique de Mons) for her help and her kindness in the wet-column experimental set-up in our lab.