Comparison of rotating packed bed and packed bed absorber in pilot plant and model simulation for CO2 capture

In this study, both packed-bed (PB) and rotating PB (RPB) absorbers with a packed-bed stripper were used in a pilot plant for the removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) with 30 wt% monoethanolamine (MEA) as the solvent. The flue gas feed is the combustion product of the blast furnace gas from a steel mill containing approximately 30% of CO2. Both PB and RPB exhibit the same performance for the capture of CO2 with the same amount of energy consumption, but the RPB has a volume of approximately one-third that of PB absorber. The results obtained from experiments using ∼20 wt% MEA showed good agreement with those obtained from simulation using an Aspen rate-based model for PB and an Aspen custom modeler for RPB. These results demonstrated the feasibility of using a RPB for decreasing the size of absorber under relevant process conditions for capturing CO2.