An overview on CO2 removal via absorption: Effect of elevated pressures in counter-current packed column

• An overview of experimental and/or modeling efforts related to CO2 removal via absorption at elevated pressure is presented.
• The thermodynamics of CO2 absorption in packed columns is well studied at a range of pressures.
• The influence of pressure on mass transfer parameters, i.e. interfacial area and mass transfer coefficients, is significant.
• Limited modeling efforts to include pressure-modified index to account for this effect on absorption kinetics model.

The knowledge of thermodynamic properties and mass transfer characteristics play a pivotal role in process development of absorption systems for carbon dioxide capture in pre-combustion and post-combustion process streams. A large number of equilibrium studies, kinetic data, thermodynamic models and mass transfer approaches are published in literature, along with a few succinct reviews. However, reviews of these techniques are centered towards theoretical aspects and the effect of process parameters crucial to operational characteristics, like pressure is completely neglected. This creates a bottleneck for performance analysis and selection of suitable experimental techniques and models for certain upscale studies. Therefore, the current study presents an overview of various experimental and/or modeling efforts related to carbon dioxide removal using absorption process at elevated pressures. The aim is to summarize the effect of high pressures on the absorption process, both from thermodynamics and hydrodynamics and mass transfer point of view.