Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.51, No.13, 4809-4818, 2012
Thermal Effects in the Absorption of Pure CO2 into Aqueous Solutions of 2-Methyl-amino-ethanol
The process of pure CO2 absorption by aqueous solutions of 2-methyl-amino-ethanol (MAE) has been studied in relation to the thermal effects of the operation. This study evaluates the consequences of heat effects during absorption and chemical reaction. The experiments were performed in a stirred tank reactor operated in batches with respect to the gas liquid phases, having a plane interfacial area. The working variables considered were the alkanolamine concentration within the interval 0.1-2.0 kmol/m(3) and the temperature in the range 288-313 K. From the results, it is deduced that the CO2 absorption at high pressures in aqueous MAE solutions, occur in the instantaneous reaction regime with high interface temperature. An expression is proposed to relate the experimental results to the initial concentration of alkanolamine and at the same time enable the determination of the interfacial temperature (T-s). In relation to temperature in the bulk liquid phase (T-B), increases (T-s-T-B) close to 43 K were determined in the experiments performed at high concentrations and in the highest temperature series.