Mass Transfer Performance of CO2 Capture by Aqueous Hybrid MEA-Methanol in Packed Absorber

Climate change and the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) have become an important global problem. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission from fossil fuel combustion is the primary contributor to this problem. Currently, a number of CO₂ capture technologies are technically feasible. Among these, gas absorption into chemical solvents is the most promising technology due to its capacity to handle a large volume of flue gas and can be operated at low temperature and pressure. One of the keys to successful operation of CO₂ chemical absorption process is the use of effective solvents. With hybrid solvents, mixtures of chemical and physical absorbents, the absorption capability at low partial pressure is enhanced or at least maintained. In addition, their performances at higher pressure are developed. This research was focused on the possibility of using hybrid solvent for CO₂ absorption. The mixture between monoethanolamine (MEA) and methyl alcohol was presented as hybrid solvent. The effects of main operating variables, such as CO₂ partial pressure, concentration of amine, the ratio of mixing, CO₂ loading, solvent flow rate and CO₂ gas flow rate were investigated. The performance of solvent for each operating parameter was compared by mean of mass transfer flux and overall gas-phase mass transfer coefficient of system.