symmetry S S Article Novel Pilot-Scale Technology for Refinery Flare Flue Gas Carbon Capture and Storage Using Cost-Effective Adsorbents Abdulkadir Sarauta 1, * and Ibrahim Ali Mohammed Dabo 2   Citation: Sarauta, A.; Mohammed Dabo, I.A. Novel Pilot-Scale Technology for Refinery Flare Flue Gas Carbon Capture and Storage Using Cost-Effective Adsorbents. Symmetry 2021, 13, 807. https:// doi.org/10.3390/sym13050807 Academic Editors: Victor A. Eremeyev and Sergei Alexandrov Received: 24 March 2021 Accepted: 29 April 2021 Published: 5 May 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). 1 Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering Design and Physical Sciences, Brunel University London, Kingston Lane, Middle Sex, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, UK 2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria 810107, Nigeria; iamohammed@abu.edu.ng * Correspondence: Abdulkadir.sarauta@brunel.ac.uk Abstract: This paper introduced the use of two new adsorbents, Akrosorb soda-lime and Bentonite clay, for refinery flare flue gas capture and storage. This study also developed a novel pilot plant model with 409.7149 kg/h capacity refinery flare emission capture with a novel adsorption column configuration using Akrosorb soda-lime and Bentonite clay adsorbents. The flare flue gas adsorption unit was designed, fabricated, test run, and commissioned. The adsorption column temperature is 28 ± 10 ◦ C and has a pressure of 131.7 kPa. The novel plant RSM optimization result shows that 93.24% of CO 2 and 62.18% of CO were absorbed, while 86.14% of NO x and 55.87% of HC were absorbed. The established optimum conditions of CO 2 , NO x , HC, and CO removal efficiency are 22 ◦ C, 2 atm, and 60 min. The variation in flare gas emission could impact the removal efficiency of the plant. The results show the maximum adsorption ability or capacity of 314.30 mg/g, and 68.90 mg/g was reached at 60 min for Akrosorb soda-lime and molded Bentonite adsorbents. Therefore, the developed novel technology for CO 2 and other GHG capture is technically feasible and friendly. The combined usage of both adsorbents will enhance the capture of GHG at a low cost compared to using Akrosorb alone as an adsorbent. Keywords: novel; refinery; gas-flaring; adsorbent; GHG; capture 1. Introduction Gas flaring over the years has been an issue of concern globally, and nations of the world have striven to minimize CO 2 and other greenhouse gases (GHG) emanating from flaring. As such, capturing these gases becomes a necessity for sustainable development with a vested responsibility in reducing CO 2 emissions, which increases the incidence of atmospheric catastrophe and global warming. The world is being confronted with the effect of climate change resulting from the emission of carbon from sources such as gas flaring among others. Several processes and technologies have been developed to reduce CO 2 and other GHG emissions sufficiently to stabilize atmospheric CO 2 concentrations at a ‘comfortable’ level. Their methods are absorption, and adsorption, membrane, hydride, and cryogenic capable for CO 2 capture. These existing technologies are prone to high energy for regeneration, corrosion, low flue gases adsorption conditions, running cost, and technical problems, and some are flammable and toxic (ethane) [1,2]. The most developing technologies of all available technology for CO 2 and other GHG capture are absorption and adsorption technologies. There are several CO 2 capture methods, which are classified into pre-, oxy-, and post-combustion carbon capture [1–3]. The paper focuses on the post-combustion route technology type, which can be retrofitted to existing and future combustion. The post-combustion capture route implies the capturing of CO 2 and other GHG from gas sources after it has been combusted such as flare flue gases [1,3]. Several major post-combustion capture processes available are absorption, adsorption (solid material), membrane, and cryogenic and hybrid dual solution Symmetry 2021, 13, 807. https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13050807 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/symmetry