Experimental investigation and modeling of viscosity effect on carbon dioxide absorption using sodium hydroxide

In this work, experimental and modeling investigations of carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) have been conducted. In order to study the impact of viscosity the solution viscosity was adjusted by adding Xanthan gum. The influences of the main operating parameters such as temperature, solution film thickness, viscosity and NaOH concentration on CO2 removal rate were experimentally investigated employing Taguchi method. The results showed viscosity and NaOH concentration had important effects on CO2 absorption. In addition, two models were proposed to correlate viscosity and solution surface tension to temperature and Xanthan loading. The results revealed that the optimum values of temperature and film thickness were 30° C and 0.8 mm, respectively.