New solvent for acid gas separation

The production and use of fossil fuels contribute to an increase in environmental pollutants such as greenhouse gases (GHGs), especially carbon dioxide (CO 2). CO2 is the most significant greenhouse gas, accounting for about 80% of the total greenhouse gases emitted in Canada. The main impacts of CO2 are climate change and global warming. Furthermore, among the largest sources of CO2 are the oil and gas industries and power generation, particularly from coal-fired power plants. Therefore, it is necessary to develop technologies to remove CO2 from industrial gas streams such as flue gas. Technologies such as chemical absorption are considered leading candidates for large-scale CO2 reductions. For this reason, effective solvents are required to make CO2 capture a viable technology. This work explores an example of a group of emerging new solvents that have the potential for highly effective CO2 removal. New solvents are gaining momentum as promising alternatives to replace traditional and commercial solvents for CO2 removal from flue gases.;The physical and transport properties were also studied to obtain density, viscosity, and refractive index data. These properties play a key role in rational design and operation of gas treating processes. The results were measured over the entire concentration ranging from 0 to I mole fraction and temperature from 25 to 70°C for density and viscosity and from 25 to 60°C for refractive index. Moreover, these properties were correlated as a function of the mole fractions by means of the Redlich-Kister equation. The calculated results agreed very well with the measured data. The maximum percent absolute deviations were 0.029% for densities, 0.885% for viscosities, and 0.009% for refractive indices.;Mass transfer was also studied. The absorption of CO2 in an aqueous solution of DEAB was investigated and compared to the performance of mass transfer with MEA. The absorption experiments were conducted in a 1" column with structured packing. The performance is presented in terms of the volumetric overall mass transfer coefficient, KGav. The effects of parameters such as inert gas flow rate, liquid flow rate, and solution concentration were studied. The results show that KGa v increases as liquid flow rate and/or concentration of solution increase. However, inert gas flow rate has less effect on KGav. In addition, the results showed that the performance of MEA was greater than that of DEAB for mass transfer. Finally, an empirical correlation of mass transfer for the CO2-DEAB system was developed.;This dissertation serves as an introduction of this project. A general review of gas treating technologies has been presented. Solvents applied in chemical solution are presented extensively. The preliminary screening of solutions by comparing the solubility results of new solvents to conventional amine, MEA, is also presented. From the results, 4-diethylamino-2-butanol, one of the most effective solvents in terms of cyclic and absorption capacities, was selected for further study in order to obtain solubility data. A comparison was made between this solvent and the commercially available MEA. The results showed that 4-diethylamino-2-butanol had superior performance in terms of cyclic and absorption capacities.