CO₂ absorption enhancement in particles/methanol mixture

Recently, the integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) has been extensively paid attention as a next-generation energy plant. The IGCC is a power plant using synthesis gases (syngas). In the IGCC, it needs to remove the acid gases such as carbon dioxide (CO₂) and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) from the feed gas streams. In this study, the particles (i.e. zeolite or silica particles in this study) and methanol are combined into zeolite/methanol and silica/methanol mixtures to enhance the CO₂ absorption rate of the base fluid, which is methanol. The absorption experiments are performed in the bubble type absorber system equipped with mass flow controller (MFC), mass flow meter (MFM) and silica gel (which can remove water vapor in the outlet gases). The parametric analysis on the effects of the particle species and fractions on CO₂ absorption rate are carried out. The particle fractions have ranges from 0.01 to 1 wt/vol% for zeolite and from 0.01 to 1 vol% for the silica particles, respectively. The maximum CO₂ absorption enhancement compared to the pure methanol were obtained ~2.8 % at 0.05 wt/vol% of zeolite/methanol and 2.3 % at 0.05 vol% of silica/methanol mixtures, respectively. The zeolite/methanol or silica/methanol absorbents are expected to be a promising material for removing the acid gases.