Two steps configuration for MEA regeneration in a CO2

capture system
Ramona NEGOI, Adrian BADEA, Luis M. ROMEO, Irene BOLEA, Cristian DINC
Abstract
The present paper proposes an innovative scheme for the integration of a CO2 capture system into circulating
fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) installation, in order to minimize the negative impact of burning local lignite on
the environment with respect to specific CO2 emission. Two configuration schemes of the absorption/desorption
of CO2 in a monoethanolamine (MEA) system have been analyzed using the commercial Aspen Plus software.
Model input data were taken from the results of burning local lignite in a 50 kWt experimental CFBC facility
located at Politehnica University of Bucharest. The results of CO2 capture efficiency and energy requirements
for MEA regeneration are discussed for these two configurations under different operating parameters.
Significant reduction of required energy to regenerate the MEA is obtained when flue gases are integrated in the
scheme.
Keywords: circulating fluidized bed, low-rank coal, CO2 capture, monoethanolamine, energy integration

1. Introduction
Romanian energy strategy to 2020
contains important proposals on the
completion of two new generation units at
Cernavod
nuclear
power
plant
(2 x 700 MW), the expansion of the use of
hydro energy and the expansion of
nonconventional energy resources in new
power plants. However, these new energy
sources are not expected to displace coal to
a major extent by 2020.
The relatively large known reserves, the
stable price for this type of primary energy
source, guaranteeing security supply, and
the possibility to ensure the employment for
a big majority of male population in the
exploitation regions, contributing at the
regional growth, are the main reasons for
which coal is considered by the Romanias
Energy Strategy as guaranty for short and
medium term energy demands [1].
Almost all the coal extracted in the
country is used to cover around 40 % of the
country's electricity generation: hard coal
having a 7.2 % and lignite having a 32.2 %
contribution in all electricity generated in

Ramona NEGOI, PhD student; Adrian BADEA, Prof. dr.

=Universitatea Politehnica din Bucureti, Facultatea de
Energetic, Splaiul Independentei 313, 060042, Bucuresti;
Luis M ROMEO, Dr; Irene BOLEA, Dr.= University of
Zaragoza, Research Centre for Energy Resources and
Consumptions (CIRCE), Mariano Esquillor, 15. Zaragoza,
50018. Spain, Cristian DINC, Lect.Dr.= Universitatea
Politehnica din Bucureti, Facultatea de Energetic, Splaiul
Independentei 313, 060042, Bucuresti.

Romania. However, a growing concern with

the continuous use of coal is related to the
significant contribution to greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions, particularly those of
carbon dioxide.
IPCC [2] considers CO2 capture and
sequestration (CCS) a critical enabling
technology that would reduce CO2 emissions
significantly, while also allowing coal to meet
the energy needs. Between different
technologies available [3], post combustion
is so far the most advanced technology and
can be applied to existing power plants. In
case of diluted and low pressure steams, as
flue gases resulted from power plants,
absorption based on chemical reaction with
aqueous solutions is the most attractive
solution.
As for Romania, there are clear intentions
to push ahead a demonstration CCS project
at Turceni Power Plant, which was chosen
as a result of a multi-criteria selection at
national level. In order to study the CO2
capture process by post-combustion an
experimental facility was commissioned at
University Politehnica of Bucharest. In this
paper, some inlet parameters, like flue gas
composition and flue gases flow rate have
been taken from experimental results and
the integration of flue gases heat is proposed
in order to reduce the reboiler heat duty
requirements.
2. Amine based process description
Generally, the CO2 capture based on

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ELECTROTEHNIC, ELECTRONIC, AUTOMATIC, 60 (2012), nr. 2

aqueous monoethanolamine (MEA) solvent

consists of two main processes: absorption
and desorption (stripping/regeneration). CO2
packed absorption columns with MEA,
operating at atmospheric pressure and
40-60C are most commonly used. Columns
are specifically suited for mass and heat
transfer processes, since packed material
provides great contact area between the two
phases, flue gases entering at the bottom of
the column and aqueous solution that it is
sprayed at the top of the column [4]. The
CO2 is transferred from the gas phase to the
liquid phase through mass transfer with
chemical reactions [5, 6]. CO2-rich solvent
with typical loading of 0.2-0.5 mol of
CO2/mol MEA [7] is then fed to the
regenerator. The device is operated at
1.2-2 atm and 100-120C [7, 8] in order to
break the bonds between the CO2 and the
solvent. The CO2 is then compressed and
transported to its storage place. Hot lean
solution coming out from the stripper is
cooled down by the cold rich solution in a
cross heat exchanger and is further cooled
to 40C before entering the absorber.
In literature, different references on
modelling, simulation and optimization of
CO2 capture with MEA can be found. Alie et
al. [9] applied flow-sheet decomposition
method for simulating key variables affecting
MEA scrubbing process, assuming that the
reboiler energy is provided by steam from
the IP turbine. Singh et al. [10] used HYSYS
and Aspen Plus simulator to estimate the
CO2 capture costs and to compare the
performance of two technologies: MEA
scrubbing and O2/CO2 recycle combustion
process. Their simulation was performed
using Aspen Plus. Aroonwilas and Veawab
and Romeo et al. [11] studied the possibility
to reduce CO2 capture energy penalties and
they stated that the optimal location to
extract power for a solvent system is from
the LP turbine at the appropriate pressure to
provide steam at lowest quality that satisfies
the solvent system reboiler requirements.
Mimura et al. [12] uses 14 % of the stripper
condenser energy to heat the boiler
feedwater. Desideri and Paolucci [13] and
Romeo et al. [14] suggest utilizing some of
the available heat from the CO2 compressor
intercoolers to heat the boiler feedwater. An
IEA GHG report [15] utilizes a number of
waste heat streams to increase the overall
plant efficiency. Wibberley considers the

integration of a solar energy field in order to

directly provide heat for the stripper of the
capture plant [16].
3. Process flow-sheet diagrams
Two configuration schemes of the
absorption/desorption
of
CO2
in
a
monoethanolamine (MEA) system have
been analyzed using the commercial Aspen
Plus software in order to study the possibility
to minimize energy requirements for MEA
regeneration. The advantages of using
commercial process simulators Aspen Plus
are three-fold: a good user interface, reliable
property packages for modeling and
simulation of complex processes and the
possibility of evaluating various process
alternatives and variable modifications in a
short period of time.
Input data for the model were there taken
from
the results
of iburning local lignite
i
i
%, Ni = 0.5 %,
(Ci = 26 %, H i = 3 %, S c = 1.1
i
O = 7.9 %, A = 26.3 %, W t = 35.7 %) in a
50 kWt experimental CFBC facility located at
University
Politehnica
of
Bucharest,
considering partial loading of the installation.
The SOx emissions have negative impact on
MEA solution as it can form stable salts that
cannot be regenerated even when heat is
applied. In this case the amount of sulphur in
the coal is significant and, a wet sodium
hydroxide (NaOH) desulphurization unite is
used before the absorber unit. Thus, for
simplification reason presence of SO2 influe
gases is not taken into account in the
simulations. A more detailed presentation of
the installation can be found elsewhere [17].
The flue gas composition and flow rate is
presented in Table 1.
Table 1.Inlet variables and flue gas composition
Flue gas mass flow (kg/h)
Absorber pressure (bar)
Temperature at absorber (C)
Wet flue gas composition (vol %)
CO2
N2
H2O
O2

55
1.013
55
11
72
10
7

To reduce the complexity of the Aspen

Plus simulation process, the following
assumptions were taken into consideration
for the two flow-sheets presented in this
paper: (i) no other flue gas treatment, like
desulphurization, particle removal, are taken
into account, (ii) no pollutants in flue gases,
such as NOx, SOx, fly ash, etc. are
25

ELECTROTEHNIC, ELECTRONIC, AUTOMATIC, 60 (2012), nr. 2

26

considered (iii) adiabatic absorption process

is assumed. The Non-Random-Two-Liquid
(NRTL) unit for electrolyte solutions was
chosen for modeling equilibrium in the
stripper and absorber. The following
reactions (1)-(5) were considered to describe
the CO2 absorption and desorption in
aqueous solution of MEA.
+

MEA + H 3O MEA + H2O

(1)

CO 2 + 2 H 2 O H 3 O + + HCO 3-

(2)

HCO 3- + H 2 O H 3 O + + CO 3-2

(3)

MEA + HCO 3- MEACOO - + H 2 O

(4)

2 H 2 O H 3 O - + OH -

(5)

Additional irreversible reactions may

occur [18]. These degradation reactions are
not considered, since degradation issues are

not in the focus of this study. However, those

reactions would be important to define the
amine degradation level in the absorption
tower and can be used for quality control
purposes.
3.1. Reference case
The reference case has been considered
to be the common flow arrangement
approach broadly presented in the open
literature [9, 13, 19]. In this case, RateFrac
column is used both for the absorber and
stripper units modelling. A closed loop flowsheet was modelled to keep the overall
water balance to zero. Even if the closure of
the flow-sheet makes mass and energy
balance convergence more difficult, results
are closer to reality. The flow-sheet of this
reference configuration is presented in
Figure 1.

Figure 1. Conventional flow-sheet for CO2 capture process by absorption/stripping (1. Absorber; 2. Stripper; 3. Reboiler;
4. Lean/Rich Heat Exchanger; 5. Mixing tank; 6. MEA Cooler; 7. Pump)

The temperature at the inlet of the

absorber was set to 55 C and the cross
temperature approach was maintained at
10 C. The pressure of the stripper greatly
influences the energy requirements. By
increasing operating pressure in the stripper
energy requirements decreases significantly.
Besides
higher
stripper
temperature
increases mass transfer driving forces
resulting in smaller column and hence lower
capital investment [8]. In the simulated
reference case, the pressure in the stripper
was set at 1.5 bars for approaching

conditions at the facility

Politehnica of Bucharest.

University

3.2. Integrated scheme

It is known that around 65 % of the
energy requirements in the amine based
process are needed for MEA regeneration in
the reboiler [20].
The energy balance across the stripper, is
expressed by equations (6) and (7).
Q reb = Q desCO2 + Q steamgener ation + Q sensible heat

Q reb = -n CO2 H absCO2 + (V - n h2o ) H vapH2O + L cp (Tbottom - Ttop )

This shows that heat provided by
condensing steam in the reboiler needs to
cover the heat used to reverse the
CO2 + MEA reaction (Qdes, CO2), the heat to
generate
steam
in
the
reboiler

in

(6)

(7)

(Qsteamgeneration), and to heat up the

solvent from the temperature at the inlet to
the reboiler temperature (Qsensible heat)
[19] (see Figure 2):

27

ELECTROTEHNIC, ELECTRONIC, AUTOMATIC, 60 (2012), nr. 2

A novel flow-sheet configuration

proposed, as shown in Figure 3.

is

Figure 2. Breakdown of energy requirements in

reboiler

Figure 3. Integrated scheme for CO2 capture process by absorption/stripping (1. Absorber; 2. Stripper; 3. Reboiler; 4.
Lean/Rich Heat Exchanger; 5. Mixing tank; 6. MEA Cooler; 7. Pump 8. Flue-gases/MEA Heat Exchanger; 9.
Cooler)

In this approach, the utilization of heat

from flue gases is considered in order to
study the possibility to reduce the heat
requirements at the stripper. By using this
configuration a significant reduction of the
sensible heat (Q sensible heat) is expected
and it will influence the overall required
energy in the stripper.
Before entering the stripper (2), the rich
MEA that gets out from lean/rich heat
exchanger (4) passes through a flue
gases/MEA heat exchanger (8) where the
flue gases enters at 160 C and the flue gas
FG/ MEA heat exchanger (8) was modelled
rigorously using HeatX unit from the
available Aspen Plus Model Library.
If temperature of the flue gases were high
enough to provide the heat required in the
regeneration process, then the reboiler could
have been modelled just as a Heatex with a
flash, where the flash is used to separate the
vapour phase from liquid phase.
But, in this study, the flue gas

temperature is considered to be 160 C as

usually flue gases are released to the
atmosphere at temperatures typically
between 150 and 200 C.
In the heat exchanger (8), flue gases are
cooled down to 125 C and then they are
further cooled in order to meet the
requirements of temperature in absorber. In
the pilot plant from University Politehnica of
Bucharest this cooling it is provided by the
wet desulphurization unit. NaOH solution is
used, since it is a simple and highly efficient
way to reduce the content of SOx from the
flue gases.
4. Discussion
The simulations were performed to
investigate the effect of CO2 capture
efficiency on reboiler heat duty at different
MEA concentrations and different capture
efficiencies and the results of this correlation
are presented in Table 2.

Table 2.Simulation main results

MEA

Scheme approach
L/G
Solvent Loading
Qreb
Q
Energy penalty
reduction

%w
%

85

S1
k 1.26
- 0.54
kW 7.05
GJ/t 3.8
%

S2
1.25
0.52
6.03
3.25

14,47

30
90
S1
1.37
0.49
7.27
3.92

S2
1.35
0.5
6.23
3.36

14,28

95
S1
1.48
0.45
7.61
4.1

S2
1.44
0.47
6.55
3.53

13,9

35
90

85
S1
1.08
0.5
6.20
3.34

S2
1.06
0.52
5.05
2.72

18,56

In the reference, case simulation results

values obtained for reboiler heat duty are

S1
1.16
0.47
6.49
3.5

S2
1.13
0.49
5.38
2.9

17,14

95
S1
1.24
0.44
6.90
3.72

S2
1.12
0.46
5.81
3.13

18,65

85
S1
0.95
0.48
5.01
2.7

S2
0.93
0.5
3.86
2.08

22,96

40
90
S1
1.02
0.44
5.49
2.96

S2
0.98
0.47
4.36
2.35

20,61

95
S1
S2
1.08 1.04
0.43 0.45
5.70 4.64
3.07
2.5
18,57

similar with the values presented in literature

by different authors (3.65 GJ/tonne CO2 by
27

28

ELECTROTEHNIC, ELECTRONIC, AUTOMATIC, 60 (2012), nr. 2

Amadeo [21], 4 GJ/tonne CO2 by Desideri

[13]). The results show that the thermal
energy required for MEA regeneration
decreases substantially with increasing the
solvent concentration. It seems more
effectively
to
use
higher
MEA
concentrations. In the case of 90 % CO2
capture efficiency, 3.9 GJ/tone are required
for 30 wt % MEA, while 2.96 GJ/tone are
required for 40 wt %.
Therefore, the reduction can be achieved
through increasing MEA concentration.
However, it is well known that high MEA
concentration can cause severe corrosion
problems when currently inhibitors are used.
Literature recommends MEA concentration
must be kept low, (typically under 20 % for
coal boilers and 30 % for natural gas-derived
flue gas), in order to keep the corrosion rates
at an acceptable level [22]. However, the
present study reveals an interesting
possibility of power reduction that could be

S1

applied if advanced and non-toxic inhibitors

or similar but more corrosion resistant
solvents will be developed in the future.
Additional thermal requirements reduction
for MEA regeneration can be achieved by
using the waste heat of flue gases as
presented in the integrated scheme. It was
noticed that the temperature change across
the stripper is smaller and the reboiler duty is
reduced compared with the reference case
by 10-20 %. The required solvent flow rate is
reduced because higher MEA concentration
in the proposed integrated scheme.
In figure 4, the heat required for different
MEA concentration and different CO2
capture efficiency is represented and it is
indeed clear that significant reduction of the
required energy to achieve the same CO2
capture efficiency performance when flue
gases are integrated into the scheme and
high amine concentration are used.

S2

Figure 4. Stripper reboiler heat duty sensitibity for different MEA concentrations

The influence of mole ratio of CO2 to MEA

was also studied as a key parameter when
comparing CO2 removal efficiency at
different experimental conditions. In Figure
5, the CO2 removal efficiency profile can be
seen at different CO2/MEA mole ratios.

concentration especially for the rich stream

with the high CO2 loading.
For the integrated configuration scheme
proposed in this study further research will
be made to investigate the influence of
NaOH desulphurization unit on CO2 capture
efficiency, since NaOH will influence CO2
emissions [18, 23].
5. Conclusions

Figure 5. Effect of mole ratio of MEA to carbon

dioxide on CO2 removal efficiency.

Concentration of MEA solution was set as

30 wt % and the concentration of CO2 at inlet
was 12%. The results obtained from Aspen
Plus simulations show that for higher CO2
/MEA mole ratios, CO2 removal efficiency
decreases. Also it is needed to remark that
the solution density is sensitive to MEA

Judging from the results obtained from

the sensitivity analysis of the two schemes
proposed significant heat duty reduction can
be achieved by: (i) integration of flue gases
to reduce the heat requirements for MEA
regeneration
and
(ii)
higher
amine
concentration. Minimum steam consumption
is found to be 2.08 GJ/tonne CO2 removed
when 85% efficiency it is achieved and 40
wt% MEA concentration when flue gases are
used for MEA regeneration. The second
scheme developed can be developed further
to investigate the influence of NaOH
desulphurization unit on CO2 removal

ELECTROTEHNIC, ELECTRONIC, AUTOMATIC, 60 (2012), nr. 2

efficiency.
Acronyms
cp
G
L
L/G
nCO2
nH2O
Q
Qreb
V
Habs CO2
Hvap H2O

Heat capacity (kJ/kmol C)

Flue gas rate (kmol/s)
Solvent rate (kmol/s)
Liquid to gas ratio (-)
Number of moles of CO2 desorbed in the stripper
(kmol)
Number of moles of water that condense in the
column (kmol)
Secific heat consumption (GJ/tonne)
Reboiler heat requirement (kW)
Vapour flow (kmol/s)
Heat of absorption of CO2 (kJ/kmol)
Heat of vaporization of water (kJ/kmol)
CO2 capture efficiency (%)

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