Kinetics of the Catalytic Desorption of CO2 from Monoethanolamine (MEA) and Monoethanolamine and Methyldiethanolamine (MEA-MDEA)

The kinetics of the desorption of CO 2 from CO 2 -loaded aqueous single 5 M monoethanolamine and blended 5 M/2 M monoethanolamine-methyldiethanolamine solvents were studied over solid acid γ-Al 2 O 3 and HZSM-5 catalysts at three desorber temperatures (348, 358 and 368K) at CO 2 loading ranging from ∼0.279-0.5 mol/mol for different ratios of catalyst weight/flow rate of amine (W/F Ao ) using a bench-scale complete absorber–desorber CO 2 capture pilot plant of 2-inch internal diameter and 3.5 ft total height. The kinetic performance, in terms of CO 2 produced, activation energy and rate constants, showed that HZSM-5 catalyst provided faster kinetics, higher CO 2 produced and lower activation energy than with γ-Al 2 O 3 .