Computers and Chemical Engineering 35 (2011) 20442052

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Computers and Chemical Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compchemeng

Dynamic modeling and validation of absorber and desorber columns for

post-combustion CO2 capture
Jozsef Gspr, Ana-Maria Cormos
Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Arany Janos St., No. 11, RO-400028 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 1 July 2010
Received in revised form 4 October 2010
Accepted 5 October 2010
Available online 11 October 2010
Keywords:
Post-combustion CO2 capture
Absorption
Desorption
Dynamic model

a b s t r a c t
The paper evaluates, by modeling and simulation, carbon dioxide capture in aqueous solution of monoethanolamine (MEA) in packed absorption columns to be used in power sector for reducing greenhouse
gas emissions. The mathematical model of carbon dioxide absorption and rich amine regeneration process
includes transfer processes: mass and heat to study the coupled effect of temperature and concentration
on the rate of absorption. The reaction kinetics and the vaporliquid equilibrium (VLE) are other important
parts of the model. The present dynamic mathematical model can be used to analyze the absorption rate,
to understand the micro level interaction of various processes taking place inside the absorption and
desorption column, and to improve the overall design of the system.
The aim of the project was to validate the absorber and desorber models, as well as to understand the
dynamic behavior of the whole capture-regeneration steps.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The current system of energy production is based on the combustion of fossil fuels (natural gas, coal, and lignite) which makes
them by far the largest source of CO2 emissions (World Resources
Institute, 2009). In accordance with the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC), it was demonstrated that the Earths climate system has demonstrably changed on both global and regional
scales since the pre-industrial era and the most signicant cause of
climate changes is the increasing of greenhouse gases concentration in the atmosphere (IPCC, 2007).
There are several alternative technologies for capturing CO2 ,
for example adsorption, cryogenic methods, membrane separation
and biological xation. The chemical absorption is the most common and viable post-combustion CO2 capture technology (Cormos,
2008; Pandya, 1983; Puxty et al., 2009).
There are a few mathematical models, in the literature, which
describe carbon dioxide absorption and desorption using amines.
The paper by Tobiesen and Svendsen (2007) analyzes absorption of
CO2 in alkanolamine, and Bosch, Kuipers, Van Swaaij, and Versteeg
(1989) describes desorption of acid gases from amine solutions.
Rocha, Bravo, and Fair (1993, 1996) describe in detail the mass
transfer model in a distillation column containing structured packing. Kvamsdal, Jakobsen, and Hoff (2009) present a dynamic model
of an absorber column for CO2 post-combustion capture. Jamal,

Corresponding author. Tel.: +40 264 593833; fax: +40 264 590818.
E-mail address: cani@chem.ubbcluj.ro (A.-M. Cormos).
0098-1354/$ see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compchemeng.2010.10.001

Meisen, and Jim Lima (2006) describe the kinetics of CO2 absorption
and desorption in aqueous alkanolamine solutions. Verstege, Van
Dijck, and Van Swaaij (1996) present a method to approximate the
enhancement factor, applicable to reversible reactions. Haghtalab
and Shojaeian (2010) obtain and correlate, with experimental data,
the adjustable parameters of WilsonNRF thermodynamic model
for MEAH2 OCO2 ternary system.
A process ow diagram of a typical amine treating process used
in industrial plants is shown in Fig. 1. The apparatus consists of three
major sections: carbon dioxide is absorbed by an alkanolamine
solution in the absorption column (1), the rich alkanolamine solution is regenerated in the desorption column (2) and the energy
consumption is minimized in the heat regeneration section which
is composed of hot/cold streams and heat exchangers (3).
An important advantage of the chemical absorption technology
is that it can be applied to the existing power plants. To make it
utilizable on the large scale the overall design needs improvement
and the operation techniques need to be optimized. Over 80% of the
energy required in the process is used in the regeneration step. To
improve the post-combustion gases purication process design a
detailed dynamic mathematical model, which describes each step
of the process and takes into consideration the interaction between
the absorber and desorber, is necessary (Cormos, 2008; Cormos,
Gaspar, & Padurean, 2009; Cormos, Cormos, & Agachi, 2009; Tzimas,
Mercier, Cormos, & Peteves, 2007).
One way of reducing the energy loss is the heat integration of the
process. In a power plant there are additional hot and cold streams.
Additional hot streams result from the stripping condenser, the CO2
compressing intercoolers and from potentially fuel gases which

J. Gspr, A.-M. Cormos / Computers and Chemical Engineering 35 (2011) 20442052

Nomenclature
Ax
au
Ci
cp
Di
R H
V H
E
F
h
Ha
HCO2
Ix
kr , kd
kG , kL
Kp
M
N
P
S
t
T

v
x
z
Z

DebyeHuckel parameter
interfacial mass-transfer area (m2 /m3 )
molar concentration (kmol/m3 )
specic heat capacity (kJ/kmol K)
diffusivity of component i (m2 /s)
reaction heat (kJ/kmol)
vaporization/condensation heat (kJ/kmol)
enhancement factor
volumetric ow rate (m3 /s)
heat transfer coefcient (kW/m2 K)
Hatta number
Henrys law constant
ionic strength
reaction rate constant (m3 /kmol s)
gas or liquid lm mass-transfer coefcient (m/s)
total mass transfer coefcient (kmol/m2 s K)
molecular mass (kg/kmol)
interfacial molar ux (kmol/s)
partial pressure (bar)
columns cross-section area (m2 )
time (s)
temperature (K)
velocity (m/s)
mole fraction
axial column coordinate
coordination number

Greek symbols
adjustable energy parameter


activity coefcient
viscosity (Pa s)


thermal conductivity (W/m2 K)

density (kg/m3 )

nonrandom factor
Subscripts/superscripts
G
gas phase
liquid phase
L
i, j
CO2 , MEA, H2 O
*
equilibrium

may need to be cooled before separation. The additional cold

streams result from the stripper reboiler and at the CO2 dehydration process. An analysis regarding the energy load of these streams
enables us to minimize the heat loss and to maximize the efciency
of the equipments (Cifre et al., 2009; Harkin & Hooper, 2010).
Another way to improve the efciency of the process is to nd
the most responsive parameters of the system which affect the
energy consumption and process yield, and to optimize them.
A dynamic mathematical model can be used to simulate the
complex phenomena of mass transfer and to understand the processes. Various models have been proposed in the literature for
carbon dioxide absorption in amines but only a few include the
absorber, desorber and reboiler models. This paper aims to develop
a dynamic model of both absorption and desorption columns. A
dynamic model allows us to study the most important parameters
variations in time and space, to improve the mass transfer rate and
to reduce the heat loss of the process. Because the majority of the
absorptiondesorption processes are sensible to the operating conditions the prediction and intervention, in real time, dynamic analyses of the processes are necessary. The present model developed (in
this work) by authors has been validated by pilot plant data found

2045

in the literature (Tobiesen, Juliussen, & Svendsen, 2008; Tobiesen

& Svendsen, 2007) and the absorber model has also been validated with data obtained on a laboratory Armeld UOP7 absorption
column (Cormos, Gaspar, & Padurean, 2009; Cormos, Gaspar,
Padurean, Cormos, & Agachi, 2010). The developed model has been
implemented in Matlab/Simulink 2007 (Matlab User Guide, 2007).
2. Mathematical modeling of post-combustion capture
process
A mathematical model has been developed for describing
the phenomena that take place in the aqueous solution of
mono-ethanolamine (MEA)carbon dioxide system. The basic
assumptions made for the CO2 capture are presented below:
Plug ow regime;
Model parameters are constant in the radial cross section of the
column (piston-type ow);
Heat transfer by conduction and radiation is negligible in the axial
direction;
The gas phase is considered to be an ideal mixture;
Carbon dioxide solubility in liquid phase is in accordance with
Henrys law;
Chemical reaction takes place only in the liquid lm;
CO2 , H2 O and MEA uxes are allowed in both directions
(gas liquid);
Vaporization of the liquid takes place only in the liquid phase
and the vapors condense at the gas-liquid interface. So the heat
of vaporization is consumed and the heat of condensation is
released instantaneously into the liquid phase;
The absorption columns are operated adiabatically.
2.1. Mass and heat balances
Authors used partial differential equations (PDEs) to describe
the time and space dependent parameters (concentration, temperature, and ow) of the absorption/desorption process in a plug
ow reactor. The mass transfer is described by the two-lm theory
(Kvamsdal et al., 2009). A scheme of the stripping/desorption column is shown in Fig. 2 and the equations are summarized below
(Cormos, Gaspar, & Padurean, 2009; Cormos, Cormos, & Agachi,
2009, Cormos, Gaspar, Padurean, Cormos, & Agachi, 2010; Dugas
& Rochelle, 2009; Gabrielsen, 2007; Gabrielsen, Michelsen, Stenby,
& Kontogeorgis, 2006; Lawal, Wang, Stephenson, & Yeung, 2009;
Plaza et al., 2009; Simon, Elias, Puxty, Artanto, & Hungerbuhler,
2010)
The total mass balance for the gas and liquid phases are:
FL
vL S
FL
= vL

L
t
z

(Mi Ni )

FG
FG
vG S
= vG

G
t
z

(Mi Ni ),

(1)
i = CO2 , MEA, H2 O

(2)

where FL and FG are the liquid and gas phase ow, respectively, vL
and vG are the liquid and gas velocity, S is the cross-sectional area,
L and G are the density of the phases, Mi is the molecular mass
of component i and Ni is the ux of component i. The sign shows
the direction of mass transfer in the absorption, respectively, in the
desorption columns.
The component mass balance for the liquid and gas phases are:
CiL
t
CiG
t

= vL

= vG

CiL
z
CiG
z

(au Ni ) NR

(3)


i

(au Ni )

(4)

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J. Gspr, A.-M. Cormos / Computers and Chemical Engineering 35 (2011) 20442052

Fig. 1. Process ow diagram of a typical alkanolamine treating process used in industrial plants.

where Ci is the concentration of component i, au is the interfacial

mass transfer area and NR is the reaction term.
The heat balance for the liquid and gas phases are:


TL
NR R H
TL

au
= vL
L cpL
z
t
+

Ni iV H

L cpL

h au
(TG TL )
L cpL

h au
TG
TG
= vG

(TG TL )
G cpG
t
z

(5)

(6)

where cpL and cpG are the heat capacities, R H is the reaction heat,
V H is the vaporization/condensation heat and h is the interfacial
heat transfer coefcient.
The second term in Eq. (5) represents the released/consumed
heat from the reaction between CO2 and MEA; the third term
represents the released/absorbed heat at water and MEA condensation/vaporization and the fourth term represents the heat change
between the two phases due to temperature difference.
2.2. Gasliquid mass transfer model

this equation cannot be used to describe the vapor pressure from

the triple point to the critical point, accordingly multiple parameter sets are needed at higher temperature and pressure. From this
reason, Lee Kesler method is used in the desorber model.
The WilsonNRF thermodynamic model is used for activity coefcients calculation. A schematic diagram of the balance model for
an innite small element is presented in Fig. 2 (Gabrielsen, 2007).
In order to predict the overall and partial mass transfer coefcients, we used correlations from Rocha et al. (1993, 1996). These
coefcients depend on the hydrodynamic properties, the physicochemical properties of the gaseous and liquid components, and the
interfacial area of the column package.
In the model, the overall mass transfer coefcient of CO2 is
expressed only in function of the enhancement factor and liquid
side resistance. The accuracy of the mathematical model depends,
too, on the effective interfacial mass transfer area calculation
precision. The available correlations from the literature, for the
calculation of the effective interfacial area, show variations in
the estimated area values (Billet & Schultes, 1999; Rocha et al.,
1993, 1996; Tobiesen & Svendsen, 2007). Tobiesen and Svendsen
(2007) found that the most reasonable and consistent routine for
Sulzer Mellapak 250Y was the one from De Brito, von Stockar,
Bangerter, Bomio, and Laso (1994). In this work a simplied cor-

In this paper, only the main reaction between MEA and CO2
is considered for the reaction rate calculation, presented below
(McCann et al., 2009; Plaza, Van Wagener, & Rochelle, 2009;
Tobiesen, 2007):
kd

CO2 + 2MEAMEACOO + MEAH+

kr

The reaction rate follows 2nd order kinetics and can be written as:
r = kd CCO2 CMEA kr CMEACOO CMEAH+

(7)

The ux of CO2 , MEA and H2 O can be expressed by

Ni = Kp (Pi Pi )

(8)

where Pi represents the partial pressure of component i over the

liquid phase, and Pi represents the partial pressure of component i
in equilibrium with the liquid phase. The equilibrium partial pressure of CO2 is expressed by Henrys law and the equilibrium partial
pressure of H2 O and MEA is calculated with Raoults law, in real
solutions. The vapor pressure of the pure components is expressed
using the Antoine equation (absorber) and the Lee Kesler method
(desorber). The use of Antoine equation in case of desorber gives
an inexact variation of heat vaporization with temperature. Usually

Fig. 2. An absorption/desorption column and the mass transfer processes in an

innite small element.

J. Gspr, A.-M. Cormos / Computers and Chemical Engineering 35 (2011) 20442052

Table 1
Mass transfer correlations parameters.

where the long-range contributions for molecular species (MEA and

H2 O) are calculated as:

Parameters

Reference

Gas side mass transfer coefcient

Liquid side mass transfer coefcient

Rocha et al. (1993, 1996)

Rocha et al. (1993, 1996) and
Link et al. (2005)
De Brito et al. (1994) and
Tobiesen (2007)
Rocha et al. (1993,1996)
Pavlov and Romankov (1981)
and Rejl et al. (2009)
Tobiesen (2007)

Effective interfacial area

Liquid holdup
Heat transfer coefcient in gas
Overall mass transfer coefcient for no
reacting component
Partial pressure of gases and vapors

3/2

ln iPDH =

(9)

C ,N
C

(10)

5. If > 102 then C = C ,N , and go back to step 2

2.3. Hydraulic and physico-chemical properties

The hydraulic and physico-chemical properties of the components (Link, Moucha, Prokopov, & Rejla, 2005; Maceiras, Alves,
Cancela, & Alvarez, 2008; Pavlov & Romankov, 1981; Perry & Green,
1999; Rejl, Linek, Moucha, & Valenz, 2009; Verstege et al., 1996) are
presented in Table 2.
2.4. Thermodynamic model
For the design of the CO2 removal process, the calculation of
the activity coefcients is needed. In the present model, the interactions between molecular and ionic species are described by the
modied WilsonNRF model. The model was tested and validated
for ternary MEAH2 OCO2 system and published by Haghtalab and
Shojaeian (2010).
According to this model the CO2 hydrolyzes in MEA solution
and forms complex ionic species, which are treated as nonvolatile
substances. For simplications it is assumed that the CO2 concentration in the liquid phase is negligible. We also consider the gas
phase to be an ideal mixture.
According to WilsonNRF model the activity coefcient of component i is expressed by:
ln i = ln iPDH + ln iSR

(i = ionic, molecular species)


xj

ij ln ij ji +

4. Calculation of the relative error,

=1

ln iSR =Z 1+ln ii

1. Reckoning of the CO2 concentration at the interface (Henrys law)

2. Obtaining the enhancement factor using Kischinevskiis equations
3. Calculation of a new value for the concentration of CO2 at the
interface,
kG PCO2

(12)

1/2

1 + Ix

Perry and Green (1999)

kG HCO2 + kL E

2Ax Ix

and similarly, the short-range contributions:

relation (Tobiesen, 2007; Tobiesen & Svendsen, 2007) is used for

effective interfacial area calculation.
The relations used in this section are summarized in Table 1.
In the case of absorption a common simplication used is the
pseudo rst order approximation. It can be applied because the
amine concentration at the interface is much higher than the
CO2 concentration at the interface. The validity of this assumption simplies the enhancement factor calculation (Verstege et al.,
1996). At the desorber, the enhancement factor is calculated using
Kischinevskiis equations. The algorithm is outlined below:

CON
2 =

2047

(11)


xk ln kj

(13)

The parameters of these equations represent Ix ionic strength, Ax

DebyeHuckel parameter, Z coordination number, xj mole fraction
in the liquid phase,  ij nonrandom factor and ij depends on the
adjustable energy parameters.
Because a non-electrolyte model is used for an electrolyte system, the ion-pair concept can be applied, assuming the formation
of complex molecular species from a cation and an anion.
2.5. Reboiler model
80% of the energy requirements of carbon capture and storage technology are used in the reboiler, where two processes take
place: vaporization of the water and reaction between CO2 and
alkanolamine. The temperature of the liquid phase in the reboiler
must be lower than the boiling point of the solution, because the
alkanolamines degenerate at higher temperatures.
In this paper we considered that the energy consumption of the
reboiler is caused by CO2 desorption, solution mass heating and
vaporization of the water.
The recirculation rate, the liquid and vapor phase temperatures,
and the composition of the liquid phase are obtained based on the
following algorithm:
1. Obtain the boiling point of solution (Table 2), TB
2. Initialize the liquid phase temperature: TLn = TB
3. Calculate the heat consumption for solution warming:Qw =
msol cpsol (TLn TL )
4. Obtain heat used for water vaporization (Qvap = Qtotal for the 1st
iteration), and heat consumed for the indirect reaction, Qreact
5. Obtain the reboiler vapor production mV = Qvap /VH2 O H
6. Obtain the liquid phase composition
7. If Qtotal (Qvap + Qreact + Qw ) > 103 then
Qvap + Qreact + Qw
Qtotal
Qvap + Qreact + Qw
n
Qreact = Qreact +
Qtotal
Qvap + Qreact + Qw
n
Qw = Qw +
Qtotal
Qvnap = Qvap 2

Recalculate the liquid phase temperature: TLn = TL (Qw /(ML

cpL )), and go back to step 2.
The partial differential equations of the mathematical model
were transformed in ordinary ones, by discretization and the
mathematical model was solved using MATLAB/Simulink software
package.
3. Model validation
The developed model of carbon dioxide absorption/desorption
process was validated with experimental data published by
Tobiesen and Svendsen (2007) and Tobiesen et al. (2008). A summary of the column characteristics and operating data is presented
in Table 3.

2048

J. Gspr, A.-M. Cormos / Computers and Chemical Engineering 35 (2011) 20442052

Table 2
Hydraulic and physico-chemical properties of the components.
Density (kg/m3 )
CO2 (at 0 C and 1 atm)

CO2 = 1.963

(yi i )

Gas mixture

gas =

Aqueous alkanolamine solution

 = 2.45 CB0 + 919.13 e24.23/TL

CO2 solubility according with Henrys law (atm m3 /kmol)

HCO2 = 10(5.30.035CB0 (1140/TL ))

Diffusion coefcient of CO2 in water (m2 /s)

DCO2 ,w = 2.35 106 e(2119/TL )

Diffusion coefcient of CO2 in amine solution (m2 /s)

DCO2 ,Am.sol = DCO2 ,w

Diffusion coefcient of CO2 in gas (m2 /s)

DCO2 = 1.38 105

Diffusion coefcient of H2 O in gas (m2 /s)

DH2 O = 1.656 1010 TL2 + 4.479 108 TL 2.775 106

Viscosity (Pa s)
MEA solution

ln(MEA ) = 0.16 CMEA 19.1 e298.3/TL

 H O 
2

MEA

 po T 3/2
pTo

CO2

CO2 = 5 108 TG + 106

Steam

steam = 4 108 TG 2 106

Thermal conductivity (W/m K)

CO2

CO2 = 8 105 TG 0.0071

air = 7 105 TG + 0.005

Air
Boiling point (K)
H2 O

TF = 31.269 ln(p) + 371.741

TS = TF +

MEA solution
Heat of vaporization (kJ/kg)
H2 O

RTF MH O
2
V HH O
2

mb

DV HH2 O = 6.5737 p2 73.173 p + 2322.1

DV HMEA = 1.447 TL + 1077.6

MEA
Specic heat capacity (J/kg K)
Cp = bT + cT2 + a
MEA
H2 O
CO2
Steam

a
1411.264
4185.000
983.240
1.965

Eighteen different cases, for the absorber, and thirteen cases,

for the desorber, were chosen to compare the simulation results
with experimental data from the literature. These cases cover a
large domain of columns loading (from 0.18 to 0.4 for the absorber
and from 0.3 to 0.45 for the desorber). The comparison of simulation results with experimental data for 2 representative cases is
presented in Table 4 and indicates a good prediction.
As can be seen in Table 4, the differences between the experimental reboiler liquid temperature and simulated values are small.

b
4.7151
0.0000
0.2605
0.0011

c
0
0
1.86107
3106

The concentration proles using Billet and Schultes (1999) correlation (for the calculation of the effective interfacial area) and
correlation indicate by Tobiesen and Svendsen (2007) are presented
in Fig. 3. The temperature prole along the packed column height
is presented in Fig. 4.

Table 3
Absorber/desorber characteristics and operating data (8; Tobiesen & Svendsen,
2007).
Absorberdesorber
Column inside diameter (m)
Height of packing (m)
Packing type

0.15
3.89
Sulzer Mellapak 250Y

Parameter
Gas ow rate (m3 /h)
Liquid ow rate (L/min)
Rich loading (mol CO2 /mol MEA)
Lean loading (mol CO2 /mol MEA)
MEA inlet concentration-absorber (mol/L)
MEA inlet concentration-desorber (mol/L)
Inlet liquid temperature-absorber (K)
Inlet liquid temperature-desorber (K)
Reboiler temperature (K)
Reboiler heat duty (kW)

140150
39
0.30.45
0.180.40
0.93.2
0.52.3
313337
376391
383398
313.5

Fig. 3. Concentration proles along the absorber-RUN 2.

J. Gspr, A.-M. Cormos / Computers and Chemical Engineering 35 (2011) 20442052

2049

Table 4
Pilot plant data and simulated results.
Run

1
2

CO2 molar
concentration (%)

MEA concentration
(kmol/m3 )

Outlet liquid
temperature (K)

Gas temperature (K)

Reboiler liquid
temperature (K)

sim

exp

sim

exp

sim

exp

sim

exp

sim

exp

0.28
6.46

0.33
6.54

3.11
1.46

3.12
1.28

329.9
333.1

328
334

325.9
336.0

328.4
335.9

398.2
388.2

394.4
384.7

Fig. 4. Temperature prole along the absorber-RUN 2 (left) and desorber (right) height-RUN 1.

Fig. 5. Experimental vs. simulated CO2 mass transfer rate (absorber).

The validity of the model for the simulation of CO2 absorption and desorption was conrmed by comparing the experimental
determined and calculated CO2 mass transfer rate for all runs.
The amount of absorbed CO2 by the solvent based on the simulation results is compared with measured results (Fig. 5). This gure
shows that the deviations are higher in medium and highest loading range for some runs. The standard deviation based on CO2 mass
transfer rate from the gas phase is 6.12% and from the liquid phase
is 1.83%. These indicate the presence of an acceptable systematic
error.
The mass transfer rate differences between simulation and
experimental results for the desorber are presented in Fig. 6. The
standard deviation analysis shows a good correlation between
experimental and simulation results (7.55% from liquid phase).
The results of liquid and the vapor temperatures, as mass transfer rate analyses, show a good agreement of the predicted value
with the measured results in the pilot plant absorber and desorber.

Fig. 6. Experimental vs. simulated CO2 mass transfer rate (desorber).

4. Evaluation of dynamic behavior

In order to analyze the dynamic behavior and to evidence the
interactions between the parts of a CO2 capture process (absorber,
desorber and reboiler) a dynamic study has been realized. The originality of this analysis consists in the fact that the absorber and
desorber are connected between them and the only input parameters are absorber liquid and gas ow rate input, composition and
temperature of these streams.
Two simulations of different scenarios have been performed:
Case 1: changing the power plant load: increasing the volumetric
ratio between gas ow rate and liquid ow rate (1.a) and decreasing the volumetric ratio between gas ow rate and liquid ow rate
(1.b)
Case 2: decreasing the temperature of the input rich amine stream

2050

J. Gspr, A.-M. Cormos / Computers and Chemical Engineering 35 (2011) 20442052

Fig. 7. FG /FL during the simulation for case 1.

Fig. 9. Absorber liquid temperature prole and desorber vapor ow rate prole for
case 1.a.

Fig. 10. CO2 absorption level for case 1.b.

Fig. 8. CO2 absorption level for case 1.a.

4.1. Case 1: changing the power plant load

The CO2 capture rate of the absorptiondesorption process is
determined by the power plant load. As can be seen in Fig. 7 in the
3rd minute is applied a disturbance. In the rst case the gas ow
rate to liquid ow rate ratio (FG /FL ) is linearly increased from 625
to 1040 and in the second case is reduced from 625 to 375 (Fig. 6).
The quantity of the pure CO2 gas increase with the increasing of
the power plant load, but the exhaust gas ow is richer in CO2 . Fig. 8
shows the change in the CO2 absorption level of the absorber gas
stream and the change in the CO2 desorption level of the desorber
liquid stream along the columns height in time.
Fig. 9 shows the variation of the absorber liquid temperature and
of the desorber vapor ow rate when the absorber load is increased.
Fig. 10 shows the response of the model to the absorber load
decreasing. The absorber stabilizes almost immediately at the new
steady-state value, in approximately 1 min after the disturbance
stabilization. The effect of the disturbance propagates with delay,
from the absorber to the desorber. As is expected, simultaneously
with the exhaust gas ow rate CO2 molar fraction decrease, the
absorber liquid and the desorber vapor ow rate curves show a
trend of increasing with time (Fig. 11).
The dynamic behavior study of the CO2 capture process reects
that the power plant performance is reduced signicantly with
excessive increase of the absorber load and a decreasing of FG /FL
allowed an increasing of CO2 capture rate (Fig. 12). As can be seen

from Figs. 9 and 11 the amine solution temperature inuences the

stripper performance and the steam requirement.
4.2. Case 2: decreasing the temperature of the input rich amine
stream
In this scenario the desorber input liquid stream temperature is
reduced in 3rd minute from 388 K to 384 K and the reboiler heat
duty is maintained constant.
Fig. 13 shows the effect of changing of the desorber feed streams
temperature on the liquid phase temperature prole and on the
vapor ow rate prole along the columns height, in time.
By reducing the temperature of the desorber feed stream, the
vapor production of the reboiler is decreased signicantly. This
change causes the decreasing of the amine regeneration process
yield, so the recycled amine stream contains more CO2 and less
free MEA (Fig. 14). For this reason the MEA concentration curves
show a trend of decreasing in the absorber too, in time (Fig. 15).
As can be seen in Fig. 12, the CO2 capture rate is reduced signicantly with the decreasing desorber feed stream temperature (case
2). This suggests that the process performance is more sensitive to
the desorber feed stream temperature than to the ue gas to liquid
solvent ratio. So, in order to improve the absorptiondesoprtion
process efciency, we should enter the desorber liquid feed stream
temperature at a closer temperature to its bubble point or we can
operate at a higher loading.

J. Gspr, A.-M. Cormos / Computers and Chemical Engineering 35 (2011) 20442052

Fig. 11. Absorber liquid temperature prole and desorber vapor ow rate prole
for case 1.b.

2051

Fig. 14. MEA concentration prole along the desorbers height in time for case 2.

Fig. 15. MEA concentration prole along the absorbers height in time for case 2.
Fig. 12. CO2 capture rate.

5. Conclusions

Fig. 13. Desorber liquid temperature and vapor ow rate prole for case 2.

A dynamic model of the complete absorber/desorber system is

needed in order to evaluate the operational challenges and to check
if variation in load during the operation of the power plant will
affect the design of absorber/desorber system. The model of carbon
dioxide absorption and rich amine regeneration process developed
in this work is capable of representing the dynamic behavior of the
columns during the operation. An important aspect of the developed model is that it describes all CO2 capture processes (absorber
column and rich amine regeneration). So, it can be followed, not
only the effect of the disturbance, separately, on each part of the
process but also the interactions between the absorber and desorber columns.
The accuracy of the presented models has been tested with
experimental data, published by Tobiesen. These models have been
implemented in MatlabSimulink and have been used for the
absorber/desorber operational parameter study.
In the future, we intend to extend the model for another alkanolamines, and to complete the absorptiondesorption column
model with another sub-processes to describe the complete carbon
capture and storage process. These models should be used too, for
the optimization and advanced control of the whole carbon capture
and storage process.

2052

J. Gspr, A.-M. Cormos / Computers and Chemical Engineering 35 (2011) 20442052

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Romanian National University
Research Council (CNCSIS UEFISCSU), project number PNII
IDEI code 2455/2008: Innovative systems for poly-generation of
energy vectors with carbon dioxide capture and storage based on
co-gasication processes of coal and renewable energy sources
(biomass) or solid waste.
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