CO2 Removal from Air in a Countercurrent Rotating Packed Bed, Experimental Determination of Height of Transfer Unit

Carbon dioxide capture is a key issue in climate change mitigation. For decades the removal of carbon dioxide has been an essential step in many industrial processing operations such as the synthesis of ammonia, natural gas purification, and oil refining. In this study, a rotating packed bed has been designed for absorption of carbon dioxide from an air stream. The rotating packed bed is a compact device which can be used to replace the conventional absorption technology because of its high efficiency, compact size, and reduced weight. Experiments have been done for carbon dioxide absorption and the effect of parameters such as rotational speed, gas and liquid flow rates, and concentration of the MEA solution on the height of transfer unit investigated for different packing types. The results show that the height of transfer unit values for carbon dioxide absorption were 2.4~ 4 cm depending on the rotational speed, absorption solution concentration, and gas and liquid flow rates.