Carbon dioxide absorption into aqueous amine based solvents: modeling and absorption tests

Mixtures of different types of amines solutions (primary: monethanolamine (MEA), tertiary: methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), sterically hindered: 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP) and absorption activators: piperazine (PZ) and (piperazinyl-1)-2-ethylamine (PZEA)) were experimentally compared with respect to the CO2 removal performances at 25 degrees C and atmospheric pressure. The different tests were achieved with a special gas-liquid contactor (cables-bundle contactor) and has also been simulated using adequately selected literature data on physico-chemical properties of the CO2-amines systems. The different experiments clearly highlighted the positive effect of the addition of an activator (such as PZ and PZEA) or a primary amine (MEA) on the absorption performances. Regarding the simulation results, they matched quite satisfactorily the experimental values concerning individual amines solutions but a less satisfactory agreement could be observed between simulation and experimental results in the case of blended amine solutions. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.