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Aqueous Amine Spray Absorption and Droplet Distribution Data for CO2 Capture Applications

2014; Elsevier BV; Volume: 63; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.egypro.2014.11.032

1876-6102

Y. Tamhankar, Brett King, Rob Whiteley, Michael R. Resetarits, Tony Cai, Clint P. Aichele,

Gas Dynamics and Kinetic Theory

Spray columns can potentially be utilized for absorbing CO2 from large point sources such as flue gas exhausted by power plants. Low gas phase pressure drop, and the lack of internals which are susceptible to corrosion, make spray columns well suited for aqueous amine absorption. Design practices for spray columns are highly empirical and application specific. There is a paucity of data on absorption of CO2 in aqueous amine sprays. Mass transfer data for CO2-amine systems is required for robust design of spray columns. Further, the absorption efficiency of sprays is greatly influenced by the surface area of drops, which in turn depends on the droplet size distribution. However, experimental data for droplet size distributions inside aqueous amine sprays is non-existent. Measurement of droplet size distributions is critical in providing a fundamental insight into spray absorption. This work presents molar flux data coupled with droplet size distribution data for CO2 absorption into Monoethanolamine (MEA) spray. Both the molar flux measurements and the droplet size measurements are made inside a 0.2 m glass column. The droplet size distributions are measured using a Phase Doppler Interferometer (PDI). Further, a novel method is utilized to quantify the available surface area from the droplet size distribution measurements. The effect of MEA concentration on molar flux, droplet size, and surface area is presented.