International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 42 (2015) 117123

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International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

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

Feasibility of carbon dioxide absorption by NaOH solution in a

rotating packed bed with blade packings
Chia-Chang Lin , Ching-Rong Chu
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The rotating packed bed (RPB) with blade packings was applied to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2 ) from gas
Received 5 January 2015 streams by NaOH solution. The RPB with blade packings had an inner radius of 1.6 cm, an outer radius
Received in revised form 10 July 2015 of 10.8 cm, and an axial height of 3.0 cm. Rotational speeds ranged from 600 to 1800 rpm, providing
Accepted 31 July 2015
25225 equiv. gravitational force. The removal efciency of CO2 was determined at various values of
operating parameters, including the rotational speed, gas ow rate, liquid ow rate, NaOH concentration,
Keywords:
and CO2 concentration. Experimental results demonstrated that the removal efciency of CO2 increased
Rotating packed bed
with the rotational speed, liquid ow rate and NaOH concentration; however, decreased with the gas
Blade packings
Absorption
ow rate and CO2 concentration. The removal efciency of CO2 was about 90% at a rotating speed of
Mass transfer 1800 rpm, a gas ow rate of 9 L/min, a liquid ow rate of 0.5 L/min, an NaOH concentration of 1.0 mol/L,
Carbon dioxide and a CO2 concentration of 1 vol%. Accordingly, the RPB with blade packings has great potential in the
removal of CO2 from the exhaust gases.
2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction liquid ows through the RPB, it is rapidly accelerated to an extent

that is determined by the rotational speed, so the RPB is less likely
Carbon dioxide (CO2 ), as a greenhouse gas, is the main contrib- to ood than is a conventional packed bed. Accordingly, an RPB can
utor to the observed global warming and climate change (Ye et al., be operated at high gas or liquid ow rates. Also, packings with a
2012, 2013). Accordingly, it is imperative to remove huge amounts large specic area and a high voidage can be used. Since the cen-
of CO2 from the exhaust gases in many industrial processes such as trifugal acceleration is high, thinner lms and smaller droplets can
coal gasication, synthesis-gas production, natural-gas processing, be formed. The mass transfer would be 10100 times greater than
oil rening, and hydrogen manufacturing. Though the absorption that in a conventional packed bed, so the required equipment is
of CO2 using various absorbents and diverse contactors has been physically smaller, and the capital and operating costs are conse-
developed for removing CO2 from the exhaust gases from these quently lower (Ramshaw, 1983). The RPB has been widely used
industrial processes (Ye et al., 2012, 2013; Rodriguez-Flores et al., for various gasliquid processes, including distillation (Lin et al.,
2013; Li et al., 2014; Khana et al., 2015; Ganapathy et al., 2014; 2002), VOCs absorption (Chen and Liu, 2002), CO2 absorption (Lin
Freeman et al., 2010; Yang et al., 2015; Bandyopadhyay and Biswas, et al., 2003), O3 absorption (Lin et al., 2009a), ozonation (Lin and
2012; Ganapathy et al., 2013), the cost is still high for the treatment Liu, 2003), reactive precipitation (Chen et al., 2000), and stripping
of the exhaust gases from power generation plants owing to the fact (Lin and Liu, 2006).
that a huge volume of the exhaust gas is needed to be treated and Over the last few years, our group successfully used the RPB
low mass transfer exists in the traditional gasliquid contactors with blade packings to absorb volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
such as packed columns, spray columns, and bubble columns. (Lin and Jian, 2007; Lin and Chien, 2008; Lin et al., 2009b, 2010;
Ramshaw and Mallinson (1981) were the rst to exploit a cen- Hsu and Lin, 2011, 2012; Lin and Lin, 2012), as presented in Fig. 1.
trifugal force as an external force to improve the efciency of According to the results of these efforts, the RPB with blade pack-
gasliquid separation. Accordingly, they developed the rotating ings has superior operating characteristics, including a low pressure
packed bed (RPB) for distillation and absorption. This unique tech- drop and a high mass transfer (Lin and Jian, 2007). We have pre-
nology is referred to as Higee (an acronym for high gravity). When sented more results concerning the RPB with blade packings for
removing VOCs by absorption (Lin and Jian, 2007; Lin and Chien,
2008; Lin et al., 2009b, 2010; Hsu and Lin, 2011, 2012; Lin and
Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 3 2118800x5760; fax: +886 3 2118800x5702. Lin, 2012). The RPB with blade packings could effectively pro-
E-mail address: higee@mail.cgu.edu.tw (C.-C. Lin). cess gas streams that contained VOCs, with a high mass transfer

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2015.07.035
1750-5836/ 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
118 C.-C. Lin, C.-R. Chu / International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 42 (2015) 117123

efciency. Recently, we used the RPB with blade packings to remove distributor must be sufciently high to pass the gap between the
VOCs from binary mixtures by absorption (Hsu and Lin, 2011, 2012). distributor and the inner side of the rotor. Otherwise, entrainment
However, the removal of CO2 in the RPB with blade packings has not may occur in the discharged gas stream and the liquid maldistribu-
yet been reported. Accordingly, to develop an alternative gasliquid tion would subsequently occur within the rotor. The NaOH solution
contactor for removing CO2 from the exhaust gases, the objective moved radially within the rotor owing to the centrifugal force and,
of this investigation is to elucidate the removal of CO2 from gas then, exited the rotor from the outer side. Both the CO2 N2 stream
streams by combining chemical absorption with the RPB with blade and the NaOH solution were in contact with the countercurrent-
packings. The NaOH solution is adopted as a model absorbent in this ow mode within the rotor, in which CO2 in the CO2 N2 stream
investigation. The results in this investigation could provide further reacted with NaOH in the liquid stream. The exiting CO2 N2 stream,
insight into the feasibility of applying the RPB with blade packings containing low CO2 concentration, nally left the top of the rotor,
to the removal of CO2 from gas streams. and, then, was discharged from the top of the RPB, while the CO2 -
rich NaOH solution was expelled from the bottom of the RPB.
2. Experimental The CO2 concentration in inlet CO2 N2 stream was varied at 1,
4, 7, and 10 vol% and the NaOH concentration in inlet liquid stream
The RPB with blade packings (as shown in Fig. 1) had an inner was set at 0.2, 0.5, 0.7, and 1.0 mol/L. During operation, the gas
radius of 1.6 cm, an outer radius of 10.8 cm, and an axial height of ow rate (axial direction) was varied at the range of 966 L/min
3.0 cm. Accordingly, the depth (radial height) of the RPB was 9.2 cm. and the liquid ow rate (radial direction) was varied at the range of
The packings were made up of twelve blades arranged within the 0.20.5 L/min. The CO2 concentrations in inlet and outlet CO2 N2
RPB spaced 30 apart where gas and liquid were contacted counter- streams were measured by an infrared (IR) CO2 analyzer (Polytron,
currently. Each blade was covered with a stainless steel wire mesh Drger).
having a conguration of interconnected laments with a mean The removal efciency of CO2 in the RPB with blade pakcings is
diameter of 0.22 mm and an average mesh diameter of 3 mm. The dened as
packings had a specic surface area of 65 m2 /m3 and a voidage of Ci Co
E (%) = 100 (1)
0.994. In general operation, the RPB can be rotated from 600 to Ci
1800 rpm, which provided 25225 times gravitational force based
where E is the removal efciency of CO2 , and Ci and Co are the con-
on the arithmetic mean radius.
centrations of CO2 in inlet and outlet CO2 N2 streams, respectively.
Fig. 2 shows the experimental setup for CO2 absorption. Dur-
The E values were measured at various values of the operation
ing normal operation, the CO2 N2 stream traveled inward from
variables, including rotational speed (), gas ow rate (QG ), liquid
the outer side of the rotor owing to the pressure drop. At the same
time, the prepared NaOH solution was introduced from the tank ow rate
 (QL ), NaOH concentration (CMEA ), and CO2 concentration
CCO2 to evaluate the performance of the RPB with blade packings
into the inner side of the rotor through a distributor. The distrib-
in absorbing CO2 using the NaOH absorbent. All experiments were
utor consisted of a tube in which holes were drilled. Liquid left
conducted at an average temperature of 25 C with atmospheric
the distributor at a relatively high velocity and, then, entered the
pressure. During CO2 absorption, the CO2 concentration in outlet
inner side of the rotor. The velocity of the liquid exiting from the
CO2 N2 stream were observed to drop rapidly and then reached a
steady value within 1015 min. The reproducibility tests under all
of the operating conditions were carried out in this investigation.
The CO2 concentration in outlet CO2 N2 stream was observed to
be reproduced with a deviation of less than 5%.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Effect of rotational speed

Fig. 3 summarizes the E values as a function of the rotational

speed from 600 to 1800 rpm at a CO2 concentration of 1 vol%
and an NaOH concentration of 1.0 mol/L. As expected, increasing
the rotational speed enhanced the E values for a given gas ow
rate and liquid ow rate. For example, the E values for rotational
Fig. 1. RPB with blade packings.
speeds of 600, 1000, 1400, and 1800 rpm were 73, 81, 88, and 90%,
respectively, at a gas ow rate of 9 L/min and a liquid ow rate
Drain of 0.5 L/min. This result could be explained by the fact that the
centrifugal acceleration could provide thinner liquid lms and/or
tiny droplets; a thinner boundary layer for mass transfer would be
CO2 Analyzer
induced, thus leading to a higher gasliquid mass transfer according
Flowmeter
Blade Packings to penetration theory. Similar trends were found in the absorption
of CO2 by the NaOH solution in the cross-ow RPB with struc-
CO2 Analyzer
tured packings (Lin and Chen, 2007) and the absorption of CO2 by
the MEA solution in the cross-ow RPB with structured packings
Motor (Lin and Chen, 2011).
As shown in Fig. 3(a), at a low liquid ow of 0.2 L/min, E varied
NaOH Pump Flowmeter
x with the x values of 0.26 and 0.29 for the gas ow rate of 9 and
66 L/min, respectively. This observation implied that the effect of
CO2+N2 the rotational speed at a low gas ow rate was close to that at a high
gas ow rate. This characteristic was not found at a high liquid ow
Fig. 2. Experimental setup for CO2 absorption. rate of 0.5 L/min, as shown in Fig. 3(b), indicating that the x value
 C.-C. Lin, C.-R. Chu / International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 42 (2015) 117123 119

(a) 100 (a) 100

QG : 9 L/min : 1800 rpm
QG : 66 L/min : 600 rpm

75
75
E (%)

50

E (%)
50

25

25

400 800 1200 1600 2000

0
Rotational Speed (rpm)
0 20 40 60 80
(b) 100
QG : 9 L/min
Gas Flow Rate (L/min)
QG : 66 L/min
(b) 100
75 : 1800 rpm

: 600 rpm
E (%)

50 75
E (%)

25 50

0
25
400 800 1200 1600 2000

Rotational Speed (rpm)

Fig. 3. Effect of rotational speed on removal efciency of CO2 (a) QL : 0.2 L/min (b) 0
QL : 0.5 L/min.
0 20 40 60 80
varied from 0.20 to 0.45 as the gas ow rate was increased from 9 to
66 L/min. This feature suggested that an increase of the E values by
Gas Flow Rate (L/min)
the rotational speed was more pronounced at a high gas ow rate.
Fig. 4. Effect of gas ow rate on removal efciency of CO2 (a) QL : 0.2 L/min (b) QL :
Accordingly, the rotational speed offered a largest effect on the E 0.5 L/min.
values at a liquid ow of 0.5 L/min and a gas ow of 66 L/min.

3.2. Effect of gas ow rate

solution in the cross-ow RPB with structured packings (Lin and
Fig. 4 presents the effect of varying the gas ow rate from 9 to Chen, 2011).
66 L/min on the E values at a CO2 concentration of 1 vol% and an As shown in Fig. 4(a), at a low liquid ow rate of 0.2 L/min, E was
NaOH concentration of 1.0 mol/L. The gas ow rate inuenced the proportional to QG y with the exponent y varying from 0.50 to 0.49
E values; that is, the E values decreased with the gas ow rate for for the rotational speed from 600 to 1800 rpm. This feature implied
a given rotational speed and liquid ow rate. For example, the E that at a low liquid ow rate, the sensitivity of E to variations in
values for gas ow rates of 9, 28, 47, and 66 L/min were 90, 73, 58, the gas ow rate at a low rotational speed was the same as that
and 49%, respectively, at a rotational speed of 1800 rpm and a liq- at a high rotational speed. As the liquid ow rate was increased to
uid ow rate of 0.5 L/min. Owing to that an increasing gas ow rate 0.5 L/min, this characteristic was not found, as shown in Fig. 4(b),
provided a larger amount of CO2 in the gas stream and a reduction indicating that the y value varied from 0.43 to 0.30 when the rota-
in the contact time, the removal of CO2 was limited at a high gas tional speed was increased from 600 to 1800 rpm. Additionally, for
ow rate. Similar trends were found in the absorption of CO2 by a given rotational speed, the sensitivity of the E values to variations
the NaOH solution in the cross-ow RPB with structured packings in the gas ow rate at a low liquid ow rate was higher than that
(Lin and Chen, 2007) and the absorption of CO2 by the MEA at a high liquid ow rate. Accordingly, the gas ow rate provided a
120 C.-C. Lin, C.-R. Chu / International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 42 (2015) 117123

(a) 100 Table 1

(QG /QL )95 under various operating conditions.

(rpm) QG (L/min) Logarithmic equation (QL )95 a (L/min) (QG /QL )95

600 9 E = 15 ln(QL ) + 83 2.2 4.1

600 66 E = 10 ln(QL ) + 36 365 0.2
75
1800 9 E = 13 ln(QL ) + 100 0.7 12.9
1800 66 E = 21 ln(QL ) + 63 4.6 14.3
a
The liquid ow rate required to achieve E = 95.
E (%)

50
NaOH solution in the cross-ow RPB with structured packings (Lin
and Chen, 2007) and the absorption of CO2 by the MEA solution in
the cross-ow RPB with structured packings (Lin and Chen, 2011).
As shown in Fig. 5(a), at a low gas ow rate of 9 L/min, E cor-
25
related QL z with the exponent z varying from 0.23 to 0.15 for the
rotational speed from 600 to 1800 rpm. This suggested that at a
: 1800 rpm low gas ow rate, the sensitivity of E to the variation in the liquid
: 600 rpm
ow at a low rotational speed was higher than that at a high rota-
0 tional speed. As the gas ow rate was increased to 66 L/min, this
phenomenon was opposite, as shown in Fig. 5(b), implying that
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 the z value varied from 0.39 to 0.55 when the rotational speed was
increased from 600 to 1800 rpm. Additionally, for a given rotational
Liquid Flow Rate (L/min) speed, the dependence of the E values on the liquid ow rate at
a high gas ow rate was higher than that at a low gas ow rate.
(b) 100 Accordingly, the liquid ow rate provided a largest effect on the
E values at a rotational speed of 1800 rpm and a gas ow rate of
66 L/min.
The results in Fig. 5 can be tted with the logarithmic equa-
75 tions indicated in Table 1. According to these equations, the liquid
ow rates required to achieve a CO2 removal of 95% were obtained
under various operating conditions, and the corresponding QG /QL
ratio was represented by (QG /QL )95 . As listed in Table 1, (QG /QL )95
E (%)

increased with the rotational speed for the same gas ow rate.
50
Additionally, (QG /QL )95 decreased with the gas ow rate at a low
rotational speed. However, as the rotational speed was increased
to 1800 rpm, (QG /QL )95 at a low gas rate was close to that at a
high gas ow. This result veried further that a high rotational
25 speed could improve the gasliquid mass transfer for CO2 absorp-
tion. However, it was known that the energy consumption would
: 1800 rpm be increased with an increasing rotational speed. Accordingly, the
optimum between the rotational speed and the removal efciency
: 600 rpm should be determined for industrial-scale applications.
0

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 3.4. Effect of NaOH concentration

Liquid Flow Rate (L/min) Fig. 6 displays the E values as a function of the NaOH concentra-
tion from 0.2 to 1.0 mol/L at a rotational speed of 1800 rpm and a
Fig. 5. Effect of liquid ow rate on removal efciency of CO2 (a) QG : 9 L/min (b) QG : CO2 concentration of 1 vol%. At a given gas ow rate and liquid ow
66 L/min.
rate, the E values increased with an increasing NaOH concentration.
For example, the E values for NaOH concentrations of 0.2, 0.5, 0.7,
largest effect on the E values at a rotational speed of 600 rpm and a and 1.0 mol/L were 59, 72, 74, and 78%, respectively, at a gas ow
liquid ow rate of 0.2 L/min. rate of 9 L/min and a liquid ow rate of 0.2 L/min. This characteristic
was caused by the fact that increasing NaOH concentration could
3.3. Effect of liquid ow rate give higher amounts of hydroxide ions per unit volume for reacting
with more CO2 at a given gas ow rate and liquid ow rate. Similar
Fig. 5 indicates the effect of the liquid ow rate ranging from trends were found in the absorption of CO2 by the NaOH solution in
0.2 to 0.5 L/min on the E values at a CO2 concentration of 1 vol% the cross-ow RPB with structured packings (Lin and Chen, 2007)
and an NaOH concentration of 1.0 mol/L. The liquid ow rate had and the absorption of CO2 by the MEA solution in the cross-ow
an inuence on the E values; that is, an increase in the liquid ow RPB with structured packings (Lin and Chen, 2011).
rate yielded an increase in the E values for a given rotational speed As shown in Fig. 6(a), at a low gas ow rate of 9 L/min, the E
and gas ow rate. For example, the E values for liquid ow rates of values were proportional to the NaOH concentration raised to the
0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 L/min were 29, 42, 44, and 49%, respectively, w power. The w values decreased from 0.17 to 0.07 as the liquid ow
at a rotational speed of 1800 rpm and a gas ow rate of 66 L/min. rate was increased from 0.2 to 0.5 L/min. This result suggested that
This behavior was attributed to the fact that more NaOH used to an enhancement of the E values by the NaOH concentration was
absorb CO2 at a high liquid ow rate was favorable to the removal more pronounced at a low liquid ow rate. This nding was not
of CO2 . Similar trends were found in the absorption of CO2 by the obvious at a high gas ow rate of 66 L/min, as shown in Fig. 6(b),
 C.-C. Lin, C.-R. Chu / International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 42 (2015) 117123 121

(a) 100 (a) 100

75 75
E (%)

E (%)
50 50

25 25

QL : 0.5 L/min QL : 0.5 L/min

QL : 0.2 L/min QL : 0.2 L/min

0 0

0.0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 0 3 6 9 12

CO2 Concentration (vol%)
NaOH Concentration (mol/L)
(b) 100
(b) 100

75
75
E (%)

50
E (%)

50

25
25
QL : 0.5 L/min
QL : 0.5 L/min QL : 0.2 L/min
QL : 0.2 L/min 0
0
0 3 6 9 12
0.0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2
CO2 Concentration (vol%)
NaOH Concentration (mol/L)
Fig. 7. Effect of CO2 concentration on removal efciency of CO2 (a) QG : 9 L/min (b)
Fig. 6. Effect of NaOH concentration on removal efciency of CO2 (a) QG : 9 L/min (b) QG : 66 L/min.
QG : 66 L/min.

showing that the w values decreased from 0.24 to 0.21 with the of 66 L/min and a liquid ow rate of 0.5 L/min. This nding was
increase in the liquid ow rate from 0.2 to 0.5 L/min. Additionally, explained by the fact that more CO2 was needed to be removed at
for a given liquid ow rate, the dependence of the E values on the high CO2 concentrations for a given NaOH concentration. Similar
NaOH concentration at a high gas ow rate was higher than that at trend was found in the absorption of CO2 by the MEA solution in
a low gas ow rate. Accordingly, the NaOH concentration offered the cross-ow RPB with structured packings (Lin and Chen, 2011).
a largest effect on the E values at a gas ow rate of 66 L/min and a As shown in Fig. 7(a), at a low gas ow rate of 9 L/min, the E
liquid ow rate of 0.2 L/min. values were proportional to the CO2 concentration to the 0.02
power at the liquid ow rate of 0.5 L/min. This power would vary
3.5. Effect of CO2 concentration to 0.08 at the liquid ow rate of 0.2 L/min. This feature implied
that a reduction of the E values by the CO2 concentration was more
Fig. 7 shows the effect of the CO2 concentration from 1 to 10 vol% evident at a low liquid ow rate. This observation was more obvious
on the E values at a rotational speed of 1800 rpm and an NaOH at a high gas ow rate of 66 L/min, as shown in Fig. 7(b), revealing
concentration of 1.0 mol/L. At a given gas ow rate and liquid ow that this power varied from 0.18 to 0.32 with the decrease in
rate, the E values decreased with an increasing CO2 concentration. the liquid ow rate from 0.5 to 0.2 L/min. Additionally, for a given
For example, the E values for CO2 concentrations of 1, 4, 7, and liquid ow rate, the sensitivity of the E values to variations in the
10 vol% were 49, 45, 38, and 30%, respectively, at a gas ow rate CO2 concentration at a high gas ow rate was much higher than that
122 C.-C. Lin, C.-R. Chu / International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 42 (2015) 117123

Table 2 removal efciency, E values. As expected, increasing the rotational

Comparison of RPB with structured packings and blade packings.
speed increased the E values. The E values appeared to increase
Lin et al. (2003) Present study with an increasing liquid ow rate and an increasing NaOH con-
Operating conditions centration but decrease with an increasing gas ow rate and an
Pressure (atm) 1 1 increasing CO2 concentration. Additionally, a high gas ow rate pro-
Temperature (K) 300 298 vided a decrease in (QG /QL )95 at a low rotational speed; however,
as the rotational speed was high, (QG /QL )95 was slightly affected
Gas phase
by the gas ow rate. Also, the rotational speed always provided
CO2 concentration (vol%) 1 1
Gas ow rate (L/min) 4.4 9 an increase in (QG /QL )95 for a given gas ow, indicating that the
Gas velocity (m/h) 38 62 RPB with blade packings could decrease the dosage of the NaOH
solution by increasing the rotational speed. The comparison of KG a
Liquid phase
between the RPB with blade packings and the RPB with struc-
NaOH concentration (mol/L) 0.2 0.2
Liquid ow rate (L/min) 0.042 0.2 tured packings indicated that the RPB with blade packings is an
Liquid velocity (m/h) 0.4 1.3 alternative gasliquid contactor for the CO2 removal from gas
streams.
RPB
Packing type Structured packings Blade packings
Inner radius (cm) 3.8 10.8 Acknowledgements
Outer radius (cm) 8.0 1.6
Axial length (cm) 2.0 3.0 The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Science
Specic surface area (m2 /m3 ) 803 65
Voidage () 0.96 0.994
and Technology of the Republic of China, Taiwan, for nancially
Rotational speed (rpm) 1735 1800 supporting this research under contract no. MOST 102-2221-E-
182-001-MY3.
KG a (1/s) 0.38 0.13

KG (cm/s) (based on specic surface area) 0.05 0.20 References

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