Abstract
We describe the use of a gas bubbler apparatus in which the gas phase is bubbled into a fixed amount of absorbent under standard conditions as a uniform procedure for determining the absorption capacity of solvents. The method was systematically applied to determine the CO2absorbing capacity of MEA (Ac) at several aqueous MEA (β) and gas-phase CO2concentrations.Acapproached the nominal CO2absorbing capacity of MEA (720 g CO2/kg MEA) at very lowβlevels, increasing from447.9±18.1to581.3±32.3 g CO2/kg MEA asβwas reduced from 30 to 2.5% (w/w).Acdid not depend on the CO2concentration in the inlet gas stream as long as the gas stream did not include other amine sensitive components. During the bubbling tests the outlet CO2concentration profiles exhibited a sigmoidal shape that could be described by an exponential equation characterized by an efficiency factor (a) and a form factor (n). Statistical analysis based on correlation analysis indicated that in all cases the experimental data fit the equation well when a was6.1±0.35andnwas2.5±0.12. The results of these experiments may be used to optimize scrubber designs for CO2sequestration from fossil fuel derived flue gases.
Highlights
IntroductionThere are several industrial applications in which a liquid phase substance (solvent) is used to selectively absorb one or several components (pollutants) from a gas stream passing through an absorbing column (scrubber)
There are several industrial applications in which a liquid phase substance is used to selectively absorb one or several components from a gas stream passing through an absorbing column
We describe the use of a gas bubbler apparatus in which the gas phase is bubbled into a fixed amount of absorbent under standard conditions as a uniform procedure for determining the absorption capacity of solvents
Summary
There are several industrial applications in which a liquid phase substance (solvent) is used to selectively absorb one or several components (pollutants) from a gas stream passing through an absorbing column (scrubber). One application of increasing interest is CO2 absorption from fossil fuel derived flue gases in thermal power plants. Efforts to mitigate global warming include CO2 sequestration from flue gases for either storage in the sea or empty oil wells or reconversion into CO and O2 through artificial photosynthesis [3,4,5]. These technologies are still in an early stage of development, amine scrubbing has emerged as the preferred method for CO2 sequestration [6]. Wet scrubbing techniques must improve to process large volumes of flue gas at acceptable thermal efficiencies and minimal costs [10, 11]
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