Effect of nanoparticles on the mass transfer process of removal of hydrogen sulfide in biogas by MDEA

In order to investigate the effect of Cu and CuO nanoparticles on the breakthrough time and mass transfer coefficient of removal of hydrogen sulfide from biogas by MDEA, the stable and homogenous MDEA-based Cu nanofluids and MDEA-based CuO nanofluids were prepared firstly. The viscosity of two types of nanofluids increased with concentrations but decreased with temperature increasing. Then absorption experiments indicated that the addition of nanoparticles could promote the removal of hydrogen sulfide from biogas by MDEA and the absorption efficiency of MDEA-based CuO nanofluids was better than that of MDEA-based Cu nanofluids. The maximum delay time of CuO nanofluids could be 380 min. The increase of temperature could slightly prolong the breakthrough time of the two types of nanofluids. But the desulfurization efficiency decreased greatly after the temperature exceeding 40 °C. The maximum mass transfer coefficient of nanofluids calculated by the double-contact column tower could be 17.75 mmol/s m2 kPa at 0.06 vol% CuO nanofluids. All of these indicated that the favorable application prospect of CuO nanoparticles in desulfurization of biogas by MDEA.