Typical adsorbents proposed for carbon capture and storage are zeolites and MOFs. The customization of adsorbents makes them a potentially attractive alternative to absorption. Because adsorbents can be regenerated by temperature or pressure swing, this step can be less energy intensive than absorption regeneration methods. Major problems that are present with adsorption cost in carbon capture are: regenerating the adsorbent, mass ratio, solvent/MOF, cost of adsorbent, production of the adsorbent, lifetime of adsorbent.
In sorption enhanced water gas shift (SEWGS) technology a pre-combustion carbon capture process, based on solid adsorption, is combined with the water gas shift reaction (WGS) in order to produce a high pressure hydrogen stream. The CO stream produced can be stored or used for other industrial processes.