Mass Transfer Performance of CO2 Capture by Aqueous Hybrid MEA-Methanol in Packed Absorber
Phairat Usubharatana, Amornvadee Veawab, Adisorn Aroonwilas, Paitoon Tontiwachwuthikul
2006
Climate change and the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) have become an important global problem. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from fossil fuel combustion is the primary contributor to this problem. Currently, a number of CO2capture technologies are technically feasible. Among these, gas absorption into chemical solvents is the most promising technology due to its capacity to handle a large volume of flue gas and can be operated at low temperature and pressure. One of the keys to successful operation of CO2chemical absorption process is the use of effective solvents. With hybrid solvents, mixtures of chemical and physical absorbents, the absorption capability at low partial pressure is enhanced or at least maintained. In addition, their performances at higher pressure are developed. This research was focused on the possibility of using hybrid solvent for CO2absorption. The mixture between monoethanolamine (MEA) and methyl alcohol was presented as hybrid solvent. The effects of main operating variables, such as CO2partial pressure, concentration of amine, the ratio of mixing, CO2loading, solvent flow rate and CO2gas flow rate were investigated. The performance of solvent for each operating parameter was compared by mean of mass transfer flux and overall gas-phase mass transfer coefficient of system.