Selection of blended amine for CO2 capture in a packed bed scrubber using the Taguchi method

This study used a packed bed scrubber to capture CO2 in the screening of blended amines and search for the optimum conditions and importance of parameters using the Taguchi method. The key factors include blended amine (A), blended amine concentration (B), liquid flow rate (C), and gas flow rate (D), with four levels for each, were explored using the L-16(4(4)) orthogonal array design. A total of 16 experiments were required in here. The responses, including absorption efficiency (E), absorption rate (R-A), scrubbing factor (phi), and overall mass transfer coefficient (K(G)a)were determined by material balance with a two-film model at a steady-state condition. Using signal/noise (S/N) ratio analysis for larger-the-better, the significance sequence for E, R-A and phi was D > C > A > B, while the significance sequence for K(G)a became D > A> C > B. The results for blended amine screening also found that individual MEA was significant for E, R-A, and phi, while blended amine MEA+AMP with 30% was best for K(G)a. In addition, four groups of optimum operating parameters were successfully validated. Finally, comparisons for individual amine and blended amine were discussed. These results can serve as reference for large scale scrubber design. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.