Characterization and Comparison of the CO₂ Absorption Performance into Single and Blended Alkanolamines in a Packed Column

Abstract

The performance of carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption into aqueous solutions of single and blended alkanolamines was evaluated experimentally in a bench-scale absorber packed with high-efficiency packings. The absorption experiments were conducted under atmospheric pressure, using a feed gas mixture containing 10% CO2 and 90% nitrogen. Monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA), diisopropanolamine (DIPA), methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP), and their mixtures including MEA−MDEA, DEA−MDEA, MEA−AMP, and DEA−AMP were tested in this work. The absorption performance was presented in terms of the CO2 removal efficiency, absorber height requirement, effective interfacial area for mass transfer, and overall mass-transfer coefficient (KGae). Comparison of the absorption performance between the tested alkanolamines was made over ranges of operating conditions to establish the correlation between single- and blended-alkanolamine systems.