Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial flue gas streams has been considered as one of the key strategies for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada and the world. At present, gas absorption into an aqueous alkanolamine solution is the most reliable mitigation technique that bears no technical risk for CO2 capture. However, the current commercial technology is yet associated with high capital and operating cost. The CO2 capture cost can be reduced by enhancing absorption & regeneration performance of alkanolamines used and also by improving column design or configuration of the process. Use of energy-efficient alkanolamines could result in a significant reduction in energy requirement for the process, thereby reducing operating cost. It however leads to an increase in capital cost of the entire capture process. Therefore, it is important that performance of absorption and regeneration columns must also be improved if the overall capture cost is to be reduced. The objectives of this proposed research are: 1) to determine mass-transfer performance and hydrodynamic behavior of various columns fitted with structured packings and also spray nozzles under CO2 absorption and solvent regeneration conditions, 2) to measure energy-flux components taking part in CO2 absorption and regeneration phenomena, 3) to develop a theoretical rate-based model that integrates mass-transfer performance, energy-flux components and hydrodynamic behavior of the columns, and 4) to perform an optimization study to arrive at the optimal design of column internals for CO2 capture application. This research is important because it will lead to significant savings in not only the capital expenditure but also the operating cost of CO2 capture. The research outcomes will present Canada with a great opportunity for reducing its CO2 emissions in a timely manner without posing a burden on the growing economy.