Pressure Drop, Capacity and Mass Transfer Area Requirements for Post-Combustion Carbon Capture by Solvents

Abstract : Post-combustion capture processes using amines are considered as one of the preferred options for CO 2 Capture and Storage (CCS). However, the cost of avoided CO 2 is very large and must be reduced. The latter cost is strongly linked with column designs which con-sequently must be optimized. In the present article, hydrodynamics and mass transfer performances of random and structured packings are discussed in terms of pressure drop, capacity and most impor-tantly in terms of mass transfer parameters, in particular in terms of interfacial area which is the most important parameter for CO 2 absorbers design. Comparison of different commercial high effi-ciency packings is discussed from experimental characterization and from CFD simulations and a methodology for future developments is proposed.