Performance characteristics and modeling of carbon dioxide absorption by amines in a packed column

Absorption of carbon dioxide by amines in a packed column was experimentally investigated. The amines employed in the present study were the primary mono-ethanolamine (MEA) and tertiary N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), two very popular amines widely used in the industries for gas purification. The CO2 absorption characteristics by these two amines were experimentally examined under various operating conditions. A theoretical model was developed for describing the CO2 absorption behavior. Test data has revealed that the model predictions and the observed CO2 absorption breakthrough curves agree very well, validating the proposed model. Preliminary regeneration tests of exhausted amine solution were also conducted. The results indicated that the tertiary amine is easier to regenerate with less loss of absorption capacity than the primary one. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.