A novel gas–liquid contactor for chemisorption of CO2

Increased emission of green house gases to the atmosphere due to rapid revolution of industry is potential threat for climate change. Gas scrubbing using aqueous amine solutions is one of the most promising retrofit options for post combustion carbon dioxide capture today. This is conventionally done in spray tower, bubble column and packed column. In the invited paper, a novel contacting device has been proposed for improved chemisorption of CO2. It is based on the absorption of CO2 during its rise as axisymmetric bullet shaped Taylor bubbles through millichannel. Investigations have been made to understand the influence of DEA concentration, inlet gas composition and pipe diameter on percent absorption of CO2 and CO2 loading. The experimental results have shown that percent CO2 removal and CO2 loading increases while absorption rate decreases with decrease of pipe diameter. This information can be exploited for optimizing the input parameters to maximize efficiency of carbon dioxide removal. The present device is expected to be a starting point for the development of slug flow millireactors capable of continuous and enhanced CO2 absorption.

► A novel contacting device proposed for improved chemisorption of CO2.
► Percent CO2 removal and CO2 loading decrease with pipe diameters.
► Absorption rate increases with pipe diameter.
► Above observations due to the dependence of rise velocity on diameter.
► The present device with 6 mm diameter is more efficient than conventional contactors.