The absorption and desorption of carbon dioxide in aqueous monoethanolamine (MEA) was measured in a rotating packed bed of size 398 mm outside diameter, 156 mm inside diameter, and axial depth 25 mm. The effect of lean amine temperature (20 and 40°C), peripheral rotor gravity (31 and 87 g), and various MEA concentrations were investigated. Using MEA concentrations above 30 wt % achieved lower CO 2 penetration levels. This is particularly pronounced for the 100% MEA solution. Comparison with conventional columns showed the advantages of using rotating packed beds in terms of saving size and space and efficient operation.
The state-of-the-art technology to capture CO2 from coal-fired power plants is absorption/stripping with aqueous
monoethanolamine (MEA). The energy consumption in stripping can be 15−30% of the power-plant output.
A rigorous rate-based model for CO2−MEA−H2O was used to simulate several flowsheet alternatives that
reduce the energy requirement using Aspen Plus with RateFrac. Results were calculated for vapor
recompression, multipressure, and simple strippers at 5 and 10 °C approach temperatures and 70, 90, and
95% CO2 removal. The “equivalent work of steam/mole of CO2 removed” and the reboiler duty were used
to compare the proposed schemes and to show the shift of energy use from work to heat. The total equivalent
work for multipressure was less than that for the simple stripper by 0.03−0.12 GJ/(ton of CO2), and the
reboiler duty was less by 0.15−0.41 GJ/(ton of CO2). The multipressure with vapor recompression is an
attractive option because it utilizes the overhead water vapor latent heat to reduce reboiler duty load, recovers
the work of compression to strip more CO2, and shows more reversible behavior.
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