Experimental and kinetic study of the catalytic desorption of CO2 from CO2-loaded monoethanolamine (MEA) and blended monoethanolamine – Methyl-diethanolamine (MEA-MDEA) solutions

Abstract

The kinetics of catalyst-aided desorption of CO2 from CO2-loaded MEA (5 mol/dm3) and blended MEA-MDEA (7 mol/dm3) solutions at CO2 loadings from 0.3 to 0.5 mol CO2/mol amine were studied over a Lewis acid catalyst (γ-Al2O3) and a Brønsted acid catalyst (H-ZSM-5) in an absorber–desorber CO2 capture bench-scale plant (columns of 0.051 m ID and height of 1.067 m) at temperatures of 348–368 K. The results showed that the conversion increases relative to no catalyst for MEA were 55 and 74% while for MEA-MDEA, they were 65 and 85.2% with γ-Al2O3 and H-ZSM-5, respectively. A comprehensive mechanistic LHHW rate model was developed for the catalytic CO2 desorption process.