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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Characterization of Packing Materials for CO2 Absorption
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)Department of Chemical Engineering
Trondheim, Norway
Ali Zakeria, Aslak Einbub, Hallvard F. Svendsena
aNTNU, N-7465 Trondheim, Norway.bSINTEF, N-7465 Trondheim, Norway.
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Outline
• Introduction.• Pressure drop.• Liquid holdup.• Effective mass transfer
area.• Conclusions.
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Introduction
The aim of the present work is to test three modern structured packing by measuring pressure drop, liquid hold-up and effective mass transfer area as function of gas and liquid load.
Focus on intermediate and low liquid flow rates Packings studied:
Sulzer, Mellapak 2X, Koch-Glitsch, Flexipak 2Y HC 49Julius Montz, Montz-Pak B1-250M.
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Geometric data for the different packings studied
Packing model Angle of inclination
Packing element height [mm]
Specific surface area[m2/m3]
Void fraction[m3/m3]
Sulzer Mellapak 2X 60 222 205 0.99
Koch-Glitsch Flexipac 2Y HC 45 137 225 0.97
Montz-Pak B1-250M 45 207 244 0.98
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
The VOCC absorber test rig
AB
SO
RB
ER
BLOWERC
YC
LO
NE
GA
S C
OO
LE
R
Column ID 0.5 m, packing height 5 m
Superficial gas velocities up to 5 m/s
Liquid flow rate up to 200 l/min
2000 liter holding tanks for batch runs
External CO2 supply (delivers up to 300 kg CO2/h)
Sensors for column pressure- and temperature profile
Gas analyser for CO2 content in-/out of column
Setup for continous measurement of liquid hold-up in packing
Setup for online measurement of CO2 loading of amine
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Pressure drop
Pressure drops were measured based on pressure measurement at 6 positions along the packing height. Position 1 is below the packing, and positions 2- 6 are 0.5 m, 1.5 m, 2.5m, 3.5m, 4.5 m into the packing respectively.
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
• (Pa0.5)
Sulzer Mellapak 2x, Air/Water system
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Pressure drop in mbar/m as a function of F-factor for two liquid loads for viscosities ranging between 1 and 12cP using sucrose as viscosifier.
Sulzer Mellapak 2x
ab
5 m3/m2h 25 m3/m2h
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Pressure drop in mbar/m as a function of F-factor for two liquid loads for viscosities ranging between 1 and 12cP using sucrose as viscosifier.
ab
5 m3/m2h 25 m3/m2h
Koch-Glitsch Flexipak 2Y HC
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Pressure drop in mbar/m as a function of F-factor for two liquid loads for viscosities ranging between 1 and 12cP using sucrose as viscosifier.
ab
5 m3/m2h 25 m3/m2h
Montz-Pak B1-250M
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Pressure-drop as function of F-factor for the different packings at 5 and 25m3/m2h liquid load.
Air/water Air/sugar soln(5cP) Air/sugar soln(12cP)
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Pressure-drop as function of F-factor for the different packings at 5 and 25m3/m2h liquid loads. Experiments with 30 wt% MEA/air system.
30 wt% MEA/air system
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Calculated pressure drops using the SULCOL, KgTower and Montz Pak compared with experimental data
Mellapak 2X Flexipac 2Y HC
Montz B1 250M
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Sulzer Mellapak 2xAir/Water system
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Liquid hold up as function of F-factor for the different packings at low liquid load .
Mellapak 2X5.7m3/m2h
Flexipac 2Y HC5.0m3/m2h
Montz B1-250M5.0m3/m2h
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Liquid hold up as function of F-factor for the different packings at high liquid load(25 m3/m2h).
Mellapak 2X Flexipac 2Y HC Montz B1-250M
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Liquid hold up as function of F-factor for the different packings
d
Air/water Air/sugar soln(5cP)
Air/30%MEA
Air/sugar soln(12cP)
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Liquid holdup measured and Liquid hold up from literature vs. F-factor
Flexipac 2Y HC Montz B1 250M
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Fractional effective area (ae/ap) as a function of liquid load (m3/m2h) for three different ranges of superficial gas
Absorption of CO2 in 0.3 M NaOH.
Mellapak 2X Flexipac 2Y HC Montz B1 250M
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
• = 0.3
Fractional effective area (ae/ap) as a function of liquid load (m3/m2h) for three different ranges of superficial gas
Absorption of CO2 in 30 wt% MEA.
• = 0.2
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
Conclusions Pressure drop, liquid hold up and effective mass transfer area were successfully determined in
a pilot plant absorber (0.5 m ID, 5.4 m packing height) as function of liquid viscosity and gas and liquid flow rate.
The variations of the hydraulic parameters are in reasonable agreement with correlations found in literature for F-factors below 3.
A slight influence of viscosity on pressure drop and flooding velocity was found.
Increased viscosity has a significant influence on hold-up especially at high liquid loads.
Both for NaOH and MEA solutions the active area increases with liquid load up to about 25 m3/m2h.
Gas flow rate has a very small effect on active area.
The values of measured effective mass transfer area are close to values found in literature for the NaOH system.
Initial evaluation of effective mass transfer area for the loaded MEA systems show a particularly strong influence of liquid load in the low range. Needs further investigation.
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Post Combustion Capture Conference 2011, Abu Dhabi UAE May 17th-19th
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