(MEA), diethanolamine (DEA), and diisopropanolamine (DIPA) were measured over a wide range of carbonation ratios. Analysis of the chemical-reaction-ratecontrolled data showed that the chemical reaction rates for all three aminoalcohols are first order with respect to the free-amine concentration.
Corporate Research TechnologyFeasibility Center Exxon Research and Engineering Co.Linden, NJ 07036
SCOPEDespite widespread use in gas treating of aqueous solutions of monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA), and diisopropanolamine (DIPA) for regenerative COz removal from gases, the underlying chemical reaction kinetics are not fully understood. It is generally agreed that the reaction of MEA with dissolved COz proceeds by second-order kinetics, i.e., first order with respect to the free amine concentration. For the DEA reaction, however, serious discrepancies exist among results of recent studies. The reaction order with respect to the free DEA concentration was proposed to be unity, two, or intermediate between one and two. Danckwerts postulated that the change in kinetics from second order for MEA to third-order for DEA may originate from the increased steric requirements of DEA as compared with MEA. This postulate would thus predict that a n amine with further increased steric crowding would give third-order kinetics. Accordingly, we undertook to examine the reaction of DIPA, an amine which is sterically more crowded than DEA. For this purpose, COz absorption rates into 1-3 molar aqueous solutions of MEA, DEA, DIPA were measured at 325 K using a single-sphere absorber. The chemical-reaction-con,.trolled absorption rate data, obtained over a wide range of carbonation ratios, were then analyzed to determine the chemical kinetics.
CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCEThe rates of COZ absorption at 323 K into 2 and 3M DEA and 1M DIPA solutions were found to be chemical-reaction-ratecontrolled. A thermodynamic model was derived to estimate the free amine concentrations at various carbonation ratios. The absorption rate results were rigorously analyzed using Danckwerts' theoretical model. The resultant chemical reaction rates showed dependencies on the free aniine concentration to the power of 1.13 in the DEA system and 0.93 in the DIPA system. This result shows that the order of chemical reaction with respect to the free amine concentration is close to unity for both DEA and DIPA. Thus, the present study suggests that MEA, DEA, and DIPA all follow the same kinetics. No evidence for shifting to higher-order kinetics owing to increasing stcric crowding of the amine structure was observed.