Experimental Studies of CO2 Capturing from the Flue Gases

CO2 emissions from combustion flue gases have turned into a major factor in global warming. Post-combustion carbon capture (PCC) from industrial utility flue gases by reactive absorption can substantially reduce the emissions of the greenhouse gas CO2. To test a new solvent (AIT600) for this purpose, a small pilot plant was used. This paper presents the results of studies on chemical methods of absorbing CO2 from flue gases with the new solvent, and evaluates the effects of operating conditions on CO2 absorption efficiency. CO2 removal rate of the AIT600 solvent was higher in comparison to the conventional monoethanolamine (MEA) solvent. The optimized temperature of the absorber column was 60 °C for CO2 absorption in this pilot plant. The overall absorption rate (Φ) and the volumetric overall mass transfer coefficient (KGaV) were also investigated.