Carbon Dioxide Absorption in Triethanolamine Aqueous Solutions: Hydrodynamics and Mass Transfer

Experimental and Theoretical Study on the Enhancement of Alkanolamines on Sulfuric Acid Nucleation

Alkanolamines such as monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA), and triethanolamine (TEA) are extensively used for CO₂ capture and consumer products. Despite their prevalence in industrial applications, the fate of alkanolamines in the atmosphere remains relatively unknown. One likely reaction pathway for these chemicals in the atmosphere is new particle formation with sulfuric acid. Here, we present the first experimental results showing the formation of sulfuric acid dimers enhanced by MEA, DEA, and TEA from the measurement of molecular clusters. This study examines the nucleation reactions of MEA, DEA, and TEA with sulfuric acid in a clean, laminar flow reactor. The chemical compositions and concentrations of the freshly nucleated clusters were analyzed using a custom-built atmospheric pressure chemical ionization long time-of-flight mass spectrometer known as the Pittsburgh Cluster CIMS. Quantum chemical calculations and kinetic modeling of sulfuric acid-MEA/DEA/TEA clusters were also performed to determine relative cluster stabilities between these sulfuric acid-base systems. Experimental results indicate that MEA, DEA, and TEA at the part per trillion by volume (pptv) concentrations can enhance sulfuric acid dimer formation rates but to a lesser extent than dimethylamine (DMA). Thus, MEA, DEA, and TEA will potentially play an important role in new particle formation in industrial cities where these alkanolamines are emitted.

Experimental Modeling and Optimization of CO2 Absorption into Piperazine Solutions Using RSM-CCD Methodology

The present work evaluates and optimizes CO₂ absorption in a bubble column for the Pz-H₂O-CO₂ system. We analyzed the impact of the different operating conditions on the hydrodynamic and mass-transfer performance. For the optimization of the process, variable conditions were used in the multivariate statistical method of response surface methodology. The central composite design is used to characterize the operating condition to fit the models by the least-squares method. The experimental data were fitted to quadratic equations using multiple regressions and analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). An approved experiment was carried out to analyze the correctness of the optimization method, and a maximum CO₂ removal efficiency of 97.9%, an absorption rate of 3.12 g/min, an N _CO2 of 0.0164 mol/m²·s, and a CO₂ loading of 0.258 mol/mol were obtained under the optimized conditions. Our results suggest that Pz concentration, solution flow rate, CO₂ flow rate, and speed of stirrer were obtained to be 0.162 M, 0.502 l/h, 2.199 l/min, and 68.89 rpm, respectively, based on the optimal conditions. The p-value for all dependent variables was less than 0.05, and that points that all three models were remarkable. In addition, the experiment values acquired for the CO₂ capture were found to agree satisfactorily with the model values (R ² = 0.944-0.999).