Mass transfer performance and correlations for CO₂ absorption into aqueous blended of DEEA/MEA in a random packed column

Abstract

The mass transfer performance of CO 2 absorption into blended N,N‐diethylethanolamine (DEEA)/ethanolamine (MEA) solutions was investigated using a lab‐scale absorber (H = 1.28 m, D = 28 mm) packed with Dixon ring random packing. The mass transfer coefficient K G a v , the unit volume absorption rate Φ, outlet concentration of CO 2 (y CO2 ), and the bottom temperature T bot of CO 2 in aqueous DEEA/MEA solutions were determined over the feed temperature range of 298.15–323.15 K, lean CO 2 loading of 0.15–0.31 mol/mol, over a wide range of liquid flow rate of 3.90–9.75 m 3 /m 2 ‐h, by using inert gas flow rate of 26.11–39.17 kmol/m 2 ‐h and 6–18 kPa CO 2 partial pressure. The results show that liquid feed temperature, lean CO 2 loading, liquid flow rate, and CO 2 partial pressure had significant effect on those parameters. However, the inert gas flow rate had little effect. To allow the mass transfer data to be really utilized, K G a v and y out correlations for the prediction of mass transfer performance were proposed and discussed. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 63: 3048–3057, 2017