Characterization of Novel Structured Packings for CO2 Capture

• Published in: Energy procedia 2013, Vol.37, p.2145-2153
• Main Authors: Wang, Chao, Perry, Micah, Seibert, Frank, Rochelle, Gary T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: CO2 capture; corrugation angle; effective area; gas film mass transfer coefficient; liquid film mass transfer coefficient; structured packing
• ISSN: 1876-6102; 1876-6102
• DOI: 10.1016/j.egypro.2013.06.093

Structured packing is widely being considered for post-combustion CO2 capture because of its high mass transfer per unit of pressure drop. The hydraulic and mass transfer performances of structured packings with different corrugation angles were measured. The effective mass transfer area was measured by absorption of CO2 with 0.1 gmol/L NaOH. The liquid film mass transfer coefficient was measured by desorption of toluene into air. The gas film mass transfer coefficient was measured by absorption of SO2 from air into 0.1 gmol/L NaOH. The effective area and the liquid film mass transfer coefficient are dependent on liquid velocity while the gas film mass transfer coefficient is a function of gas velocity. Increasing the corrugation angle from 45° to 60° (Mellapak 250Y to Mellapak 250X) resulted in (1) a 54% decrease in pressure drop, (2) a 6% decrease in effective area, (3) a 17% decrease in kG, and (4) a 18% decrease in kL. Increasing the corrugation angle from 45° to 70°, a larger difference was found in pressure drop, kG and kL. However, the impact of corrugation angle on effective area is not significant. In conclusion, increasing the corrugation angle will have a benefit on pressure drop with a negative impact on mass transfer properties. Future work will be focused on economic analysis between operation costs (related to pressure drop) and capital costs (related to mass transfer properties) to determine the optimum corrugation angle for a particular separation task.