Carbon Dioxide Absorption in a Fabricated Wetted-Wall Column Using Varying Concentrations of Aqueous Ammonia

https://doi.org/10.22146/ajche.49727

H.E.E. Ching(1*), L.M.P. Co(2), S.I.C. Tan(3), S.A. Roces(4), N.P. Dugos(5), J. Robles(6), M.M. Uy(7)

(1) 
(2) 
(3) 
(4) 
(5) 
(6) 
(7) 
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract


Due to the continued increasing levels of CO2 emissions that is contributing to climate change, CO2 mitigation technologies, particularly carbon capture and storage, are being developed to address the goal of abating CO2 levels. Carbon capture technologies can be applied at the pre-combustion, oxy-fuel combustion, and post-combustion stages, the latter being the most widely used due to its flexibility. Among the several CO2 separation processes available for carbon capture, absorption is the most widely used where amine solutions are used as absorbents. This paper highlights the use of a wetted wall column fabricated by Siy and Villanueva (2012) and simulated flue gas to determine the performance of CO2 absorption in terms of the percentage of CO2 absorbed, the steady state time, and the overall gas mass transfer coefficient. The concentrations used were 1, 5, 10, and 15% NH3(aq) at a constant temperature range of 12-17ºC, solvent flow rate of 100 mL/min, and simulated flue gas flow rate of 2 L/min. It was found that increasing the solvent concentration resulted in a proportional increase both in the percentage of CO2 absorbed and the overall gas mass transfer coefficient. The average percentage of CO2 absorbed ranged within 52.25% to 95.29% while the overall mass transfer coefficient ranged from 0.1843 to 0.7746 mmol/m2∙s∙kPa. However, erratic behavior was seen for the time required for the system to reach steady state. Using Design ExpertTM for analysis, the results showed that the effect of varying the concentration had a significant effect on the percentage of CO2 absorbed and the overall gas mass transfer coefficient. The results proved that the greater the aqueous ammonia concentration, the greater the percentage of CO2 absorbed. The range of 5-10% aqueous ammonia is recommended because the percentage of CO2 absorbed peaks at an average of 92% beyond the range of 5-10%.

Keywords


Carbon capture, Absorption, Wetted-wall column, Aqueous ammonia

Full Text:

PDF


References

1. Darde, V., van Well, W. J. M., Stenby, E. H., and Thomsen, K. (2011). CO2 capture
using aqueous ammonia: Kinetic study and process simulation. Energy Procedia
4, 1443-1450.
2. Dave, N., Do, T., Puxty, G., Rowland, R., Feron, P. H. M., and Attalla, M. I. (2009).
CO2 capture by aqueous amines and aqueous ammonia – A Comparison. Energy Procedia 1, 949-954.
3. Figueroa, J. D., Fout, T., Plasynski, S., McIlvried, H., and Srivastava, R. D. (2008). Advances in CO2 capture technology-The U.S. Department of Energy’s Carbon Sequestration
Program. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 2, 9-20.
4. Gibbins, J., and Chalmers, H. (2008). Carbon capture and storage. Energy Policy 36, 4317-4322.
5. Herzog, H., Meldon, J., and Hatton, A. (2009). Advanced post-combustion CO2
capture. Clean Air Task Force, Under a grant from the Doris Duke Foundation.
6. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2005). IPCC special report on carbon dioxide capture and storage. In B. Metz, O. Davidson, H. de Coninck, M. Loos, and L. Meyer (Eds.), Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
7. Liu, J., Wang, S., Zhao, B., Tong, H., and Chen C. (2009). Absorption of carbon dioxide in aqueous ammonia. Energy Procedia 1, 933-940.
8. Liu, J., Wang, S., Qi, G., Zhao, B., and Chen, C. (2011). Kinetics and mass transfer of carbon dioxide absorption into aqueous ammonia. Energy Procedia 4, 525-532.

9. Olajire, A. A. (2010). CO2 capture and separation technologies for end-of- pipe applications – A review. Energy 35, 2610-2628.

10. Pellegrini, G., Strube, R., and Manfrida, G. (2010). Comparative study of chemical absorbents in postcombustion CO2 capture. Energy 35, 851-857.

11. Pires, J. C. M., Martins, F. G., Alvim- Ferraz, M. C. M., and Simões, M. (2011). Recent developments on carbon capture and storage: An overview. Chemical Engineering Research and Design 89, 1446-1460.

12. Puxty, G., Rowland, R., and Attalla, M. (2010). Comparison of the rate of CO2 absorption into aqueous ammonia and monoethanolamine. Chemical Engineering Science 65, 915-922.
13. Strube, R., Pellegrini, G., and Manfrida, G. (2011). The environmental impact of post-combustion CO2 capture with MEA, with aqueous ammonia, and with an aqueous ammonia-ethanol mixture for a coal-fired power plant. Energy 36, 3763-3770.
14. Siy, S. J., and Villanueva, J. C. (2012). Design, fabrication and testing of wetted wall column for carbon capture using aqueous ammonia. Unpublished manuscript, De La Salle
University.
15. Wang, M., Lawal, A., Stephenson, P., Sidders, J., and Ramshaw, C. (2011). Post-combustion CO2 capture with chemical absorption: A state-of-the-art review. Chemical Engineering Research and Design 89, 1609-1624.

16. Xu, Q., and Rochelle, G. (2011). Total pressure and CO2 solubility at high temperature in aqueous amines. Energy Procedia 4, 117-124.

17. Yeh, A. C., and Bai, H. (1999). Comparison of ammonia and monoethanolamine solvents to reduce CO2 greenhouse gas emissions. The Science of the Total Environment 228, 121-133.

18. Yeh, J. T., Pennline, H. W., Resnik, K. P., and Rygle, K. (2004, May). Absorption and regeneration studies for CO2 capture by aqueous ammonia. Paper presented at the Third Annual Conference on Carbon Capture & Sequestration, Alexandria, VA. Retrieved from http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook /American_Psychological_Association_( APA)_Documentation_M.pdf



DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/ajche.49727

Article Metrics

Abstract views : 4257 | views : 4414

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


ASEAN Journal of Chemical Engineering  (print ISSN 1655-4418; online ISSN 2655-5409) is published by Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada.