Experimental and numerical characterization of a new structured packing for CO 2 capture

• Published in: AIChE journal Vol. 64; no. 11; pp. 4053 - 4065
• Main Authors: Hüser, Nicole, Yazgi, Murat, Hugen, Thorsten, Rietfort, Thomas, Kenig, Eugeny Y.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.11.2018
• ISSN: 0001-1541; 1547-5905
• DOI: 10.1002/aic.16375

Structured packings with a low pressure drop can reduce the energy consumption of CO 2 capture plants. In this work, an experimental and a numerical study of a new structured packing with an inclination angle of 75° were carried out. The packing performance was compared to that of a state‐of‐the‐art packing with an inclination angle of 45°. Experimental results revealed that the specific pressure drop can be reduced by over 90%, whereas for the separation efficiency, only a small reduction was found. Simulations were conducted for industrial‐scale flue‐gas conditions of a gas‐fired and a coal‐fired power plant. For the coal‐fired power plant, only a slight reduction of the separation efficiency was found, while for the gas‐fired power plant, there was even no reduction. Thus, both experimental and simulation results revealed a high potential of the new packing, which appears to be a good alternative to conventional packings in CO 2 capture applications. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 64: 4053–4065, 2018