Investigation of amine amino acid salts for carbon dioxide absorption

The carbon dioxide capture potential of amine amino acid salts (AAAS), formed by mixing equinormal amounts of amino acids; e.g. glycine. B-alanine and sarcosine, with an organic base; 3-(methylamino)propylamine (MAPA), was assessed by comparison with monoethanolamine (MEA), and with amino acid salt (AAS) from amino acid neutralized with an inorganic base; potassium hydroxide (KOH). Carbon dioxide absorption and desorption experiments were carried out on the solvent systems at 40 degrees C and 80 degrees C respectively. Experimental results showed that amine amino acid salts have similar CO2 absorption properties to MEA of the same concentration. They also showed good signs of stability during the experiments. Amino acid salt from an inorganic base, KOH, showed lower performance in CO2 absorption than the amine amino acid salts (AAAS) mainly due to a lower equilibrium temperature sensitivity. AAAS showed better performance than MEA of same concentration. AAAS from neutralization of sarcosine with MAPA showed the best performance and the performance could be further enhanced when promoted with excess MAPA. The solvent comparison is semi-quantitative since the bubble structure, and thus gas-liquid interfacial area may not be the same for all experiments, however superficial gas velocities were kept constant. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.