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High Efficiency Column Internals

CO₂ separation can be achieved by a number of techniques including absorption, adsorption, cryogenic separation, membrane permeation and others. For removing CO₂ from high-volume waste gas streams, absorption into a liquid solvent is considered to be the suitable approach at the moment.

Since CO₂ absorption takes place when gas and liquid phases are brought into contact, efficiency of the absorption process is therefore dependent upon the degrees of gas-liquid contact provides by the column. At present, there are various types of column internal devices that have been developed for separation purposes. One of the most sophisticated devices providing favorable characteristics in terms of both mass-transfer and hydrodynamics is structured packing. With its regular geometric structure, structured packing generally offers excellent mass-transfer performance without sacrificing hydrodynamic capacity that will be beneficial to the CO₂ absorption application.

To design a CO₂ absorption column packed with structured packing, an understanding of mass-transfer characteristics and hydrodynamic behavior of the packing is essential. Therefore, primary focus of our research on high efficiency column internals is given to the following:

Evaluation of CO₂ absorption efficiency of various structured packings including Gempak 4A, Mellapak 500Y, Mellapak 500X, Optiflow, etc. The evaluation is conducted by using pilot-scale CO₂ absorption unit.
Development of a rigorous mechanistic model based on liquid irrigation pattern inside the absorption column. The model is developed to evaluate the accurate mass-transfer parameters that can be used to rectify the column design approach for CO₂ absorption. Determination of the optimum quality of initial liquid distributors and the position of re-distributors to minimize mal-distribution problem, which often occurs in the absorption column.

Research Consortium of International Test Centre for CO₂ Capture Sponsored By:

SaskPower, EnCana, HTC Purenergy, E.ON|UK, Saudi Aramco, Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE), Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI), RWEnpower, Babcock & Wilcox, Natural Resources Canada, and Saskatchewan Energy & Resources

Other support also provided by:

Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Western Economic Diversification Canada, Government of Saskatchewan, Alberta Research Council, Natural Resources Canada, University of Waterloo, and University of Regina.