Simulation and parametric analysis of CO2 capture from natural gas using diglycolamine

Conventional natural gas sweetening processes are mainly focused on the H2S removal with the bulk removal of CO2. However, the placement of natural gas processes within the carbon capture and storage (CCS) framework provides an opportunity to achieve the synergies between the two technologies. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the CO2 capture process from the natural gas processing plants. In this study, a steady-state model has been developed that can reasonably predict the CO2 capture mechanism from the natural gas using diglycolamine (DGA) solvent. The developed model is first validated against a commercial operating plant using the required data and operating conditions. The results show that the developed model is in good agreement with the operational data. The model is then tested for all the possible key parameters that can affect the performance of the process. Since, achieving the product specification with minimum possible energy requirement is the goal of any process plant, hence, the effect of operational parameters is investigated in terms of CO2 content in the sweet gas and reboiler duty.