Absorption of Carbon Dioxide with Ionic Liquid in a Rotating Packed Bed Contactor: Mass Transfer Study

Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 2011 papers

Abstract

Using ionic liquids for CO2 capture is of great interest due to their unique characteristics. However, low gas–liquid mass transfer rates in conventional gas–liquid contactors due to the high viscosities of ionic liquids lead to the significant limitation for large-scale application of CO2 capture using ionic liquids. Therefore, there is an urgent demand to develop a novel gas–liquid contactor for the intensification of the mass transfer efficiency in such a system. In this article, CO2 absorption with an ionic liquid in a rotating packed bed (RPB) gas–liquid contactor is first reported. It was found that the RPB markedly enhanced the physical absorption of CO2 in the ionic liquid in a very short contact time, within seconds. Only one cycle gas–liquid contact in the RPB could make the saturation ratio of CO2 in the ionic liquid reach 60%. The effects of various operation conditions on the liquid side volumetric mass transfer coefficient (kLα) were elucidated. Increasing the rotating speed from 1100 to 3100 rpm doubled the kLα. The increase of the liquid flow rate also benefited the enhancement of the kLα. The experimentally measured kLα in the RPB is at least 1 order of magnitude higher than that in a conventional packed tower. A model based on penetration theory was proposed to describe the mechanism of gas–liquid mass transfer in the RPB. The predicted kLα was in good agreement with the experimental data with a deviation of less than 15%. The RPB shows great potential for the industrial application of CO2 capture using ionic liquids.

Related Papers

• → Carbon dioxide absorption into monoethanolamine in a continuous film contactor(2007)53 cited
• → Effect of Tween 80 on Bubble Size and Mass Transfer in a Bubble Contactor(2011)25 cited
• → Carbon dioxide–air mixtures: mass transfer in recycling packed-bed absorption columns operating under high liquid flow rates(1999)15 cited
• → Absorption of carbon dioxide using packed columns and membrane contactors(2005)3 cited