Gas absorption in reactive solutions: Adapted instrumentation of a stirred cell for kinetic study and application to CO2/amine systems

Abstract

The elimination of impurities from natural gas (water, CO2, H2S, mercaptans) is an obligation: in Europe, a max. of 20 mg/Sm3 in total sulfur (at 15°C and 1 atm) is allowed, as well as 2.5 vol% in CO2. It maximizes the calorific value of delivered gas and limits chemical risks (corrosion, toxicity) associated with this transition fuel to cleaner energy sources. Acid gas separation is commonly performed by reactive gas-liquid absorption. Raw gas and absorptive solution are brought into counter current contact in an absorber at 40-80°C and 30-80 bar. Then the acid-gas loaded solvent is sent to a stripper where acid gas desorption from the solvent takes place at T between 105 and 140°C and P ≤ 2.5 bar. The solvent is an aqueous base (e.g., amine) solution. A good solvent has a high reactivity with the dissolved gas during absorption and a low regeneration energy, hence the advantage of mixtures of two amines. Here we study an aqueous solution of a small amount of piperazine (PZ) added to methyldiethanolamine (MDEA). PZ reacts faster with CO2 than MDEA, and the major reaction product with CO2 is the hydrogen carbonate ion HCO3-, which lowers the solvent regeneration duty. This work aims at characterising the kinetics of the absorption of CO2 in an aqueous solution of MDEA-PZ. Indeed, no consensus has been found on the reaction mechanism of CO2 in this amine mixture; the synergies between MDEA and PZ observed in the literature remain poorly explained. However, its knowledge is essential to optimize solvent formulation and industrial unit design.