Novel rate-based modeling and mass transfer performance of CO2 absorption in rotating spiral contactor

For the process of CO2 absorption, existing gas-liquid contactors suffer from low mass transfer performance and low gas-liquid ratios. In this study, a rotating spiral contactor was developed to overcome these drawbacks and a novel rate-based model was developed to predict the CO2 absorption performance. The effective interfacial area (a(e)), overall volumetric mass transfer coefficient (K(G)a(e)) and CO2 absorption efficiency (eta) were investigated. The results showed that the a(e) was 913-1125 m(2)/m(3) superior to the conventional contactor. In the range of gas-liquid ratio of 200-1800, the K(G)a(e) and eta were 1.4-10.1 kmol.m(-3).h(-1).kPa(-1) and 40.5-99.6 %, respectively. The rate-based model predicted the K(G)a(e) and eta with the AARD of 6.71 % and 1.90 %, respectively. Also, it has better robustness even in highly nonlinear temperature and composition distributions. This study provides a potential contactor and a new modeling tool for CO2 capture and other gas-liquid separation.