Carbon capture from biomass flue gases for CO2 enrichment in greenhouses

J V Reinoso Moreno; M G Pinna-Hernández; J A Sánchez Molina; M D Fernández Fernández; J C López Hernández; F G Acién Fernández

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23274

Carbon capture from biomass flue gases for CO₂ enrichment in greenhouses

Heliyon. 2023 Dec 12;10(1):e23274. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23274. eCollection 2024 Jan 15.

Authors

J V Reinoso Moreno^{1

2}, M G Pinna-Hernández^{1

2}, J A Sánchez Molina^{3

2}, M D Fernández Fernández⁴, J C López Hernández⁴, F G Acién Fernández^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Almería, Carretera de Sacramento s/n, 04120, La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Spain.
² Solar Energy Research Centre (CIESOL), Joint Centre University of Almería-CIEMAT, Almería, 04120, Spain.
³ Automatic Control, Robotics and Mechatronic Research Group (TEP 197), Department of Informatics, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain.
⁴ Las Palmerillas Experimental Station, Cajamar Caja Rural Foundation, 04710 Almería, Spain.

Abstract

Heating and CO₂ enrichment systems can improve yields in intensive greenhouse agriculture Combining both techniques, which are currently applied commercially, can potentially enhance their effect. The CO₂ must be separated from the other noxious gases present (such as CO, NO_X, and SO₂) to avoid them becoming part of the supply. The CO₂ is then provided to the greenhouse on demand in the same way as the heating. In this work, we show that an improved food productivity of a pilot-scale greenhouse system combined with CO₂ capture by adsorption using activated carbon and heating with alternative fuel. The proposed system's overall performance was evaluated and optimized. The best values were 46.7 g/kg of CO₂ storage capacity on the adsorbent bed, 99.99 % removal rate harmful gases from the gas supplied to the greenhouse, CO₂ levels of 1851.0 ± 262.8 mg/Nm³ of the CO₂ levels in the greenhouse, and an enrichment time of 2.18 ± 0.92 h/day. The system's effective performance over extended periods (November-February) was confirmed and the productivity of a crop species (tomato) was compared to a control, showing an increment of 18 %. The results indicate that this is a valuable option for increasing the crop yield. By integrating this combined system with advanced climate control strategies, it is possible to maximize the CO₂ provided per day, leading to higher yields. The system proved to be stable under real pilot-scale conditions over winter periods (four months).

Keywords: Bioeconomy; CO2 adsorption; CO2 capture; Greenhouse crop residues; heating with biomass.