Article

pubs.acs.org/EF

Effect of Arginine on Carbon Dioxide Capture by Potassium

Carbonate Solution
Shufeng Shen,*,†,‡ Xiaoxia Feng,†,‡ and Shaofeng Ren†,‡
†
School of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Engineering and ‡Hebei Research Center of Pharmaceutical and Chemical Engineering,
Hebei University of Science and Technology, Shijiazhuang 050018, China

ABSTRACT: Preliminary screening experiments of carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption into aqueous 35 wt % equivalent
potassium carbonate (K2CO3) solution with different additives were performed in a wetted-wall column at 322 K. Arginine was
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found as an effective promoter to enhance the absorption rate in aqueous K2CO3 solution. The effect of arginine concentration
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and CO2 loading on the absorption rate into carbonate solutions is discussed. The vapor−liquid equilibrium of 35 wt %
equivalent K2CO3 with 0−5 wt % arginine was obtained in the temperature range from 323 to 343 K using inert-gas stripping
method. Desorption curves of the unpromoted and arginine-promoted carbonate solutions are also discussed.

1. INTRODUCTION arginine on vapor−liquid equilibrium in carbonate solutions and

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the main greenhouse gases the desorption process is not clear and needs to be revealed. In
causing climate abnormality. CO2 emissions from fossil-fired this work, the absorption and desorption rates of CO2 in aqueous
power generation are a major contributor to climate change. It is 35 wt % equivalent K2CO3 solution with arginine are discussed.
widely accepted that postcombustion carbon capture and storage The vapor−liquid equilibrium of 35 wt % equivalent K2CO3 with
(CCS) is one of the promising routes to reduce CO2 emissions 0−5 wt % arginine was investigated from 323 to 343 K using an
in the near-term. Over the past years, absorption with different inert-gas stripping method. Results will be helpful for calculation
chemical solvents has been proposed and carried out in pilot of arginine rate constants from kinetic data and for design of a
demonstration as a feasible option to a large-scale implementa- capture process.
tion.1,2 Absorption happens by contacting solvent counter-
current to gases in an absorber column to remove CO2. Then the 2. ABSORPTION SYSTEM WITH CHEMICAL REACTION
CO2-rich solvent is subsequently fed to a regenerator to strip out Using aqueous K2CO3 for CO2 absorption, reactions can be
CO2 for storage or utilization, and the CO2-lean solvent is sent described as follows:4,17,22
back to the absorber for reuse. k OH−
The use of aqueous potassium carbonate (K2CO3) solvent has CO2 + OH− ←→
⎯ HCO3− (1)
gained widespread attention among chemical absorbents for k H2O
many years due to low absorption heat, low cost, less toxicity and ⎯ HCO3− + H+
CO2 + H 2O ←→ (2)
solvent losses, and no thermal and oxidative degradation, without
formation of heat-stable salts.2−5 A key limitation associated with In basic solutions (pH > 8), the reaction of CO2 + H2O forming
using K2CO3 is the slow reaction rate of absorption.2,5 Promoters HCO3− can be neglected, and the CO2 reaction with OH− is the
are often used to improve the CO2 mass-transfer rates. predominant and the rate-limiting reaction.
Promoters, such as arsenites, piperazine, and ethanolamine, Reaction of CO2 with amino acids can be described on the
have been proved to enhance greatly the absorption rate in basis of zwitterionic mechanism.23,24 When adding arginine into
carbonate solutions.3−9 However, these promoters are known to carbonate solution, apart from H2O and OH−, CO2 also reacts
be toxic or volatile, prone to oxidative and thermal degradation, with the alkaline salt of arginine, KArg, forming a zwitterion as an
and hazardous to the environment.2,10 In recent years, amino intermediate that is subsequently deprotonated by bases, B (such
acid salts have been extensively studied for CO2 absorption.11−21 as KR′NH2, the guanidinium group in the side chain of arginine,
Due to having the identical functional group as that of CO32−, OH−, or H2O) present in solution.
alkanolamines, amino acid salts are expected to react with CO2 CO2 + H 2N−CHR′−COO−K+
in a similar manner. Moreover, their ionic characteristics in k 2,Arg −
alkaline solutions will have some advantages such as low volatility XooooooY COO+H 2N−CHR′−COO−K+
and resistance to degradation.15−17 Recently, preliminary studies k −2,Arg (3)
have been carried out for CO2 absorption by arginine-promoted
−
carbonate solvents in our previous work.22 Arginine is one of the COO+H 2N−CHR′−COO−K+ + B
basic amino acids, and it contains a primary amino group in kB
addition to a guanidinium group in its side chain. The primary → −COOHN−CHR′−COO−K+ + BH+ (4)
amino group in arginine can be expected to react quickly with
CO2 as many primary amines (e.g., monoethanolamine (MEA)) Received: May 31, 2013
do. The strong basic chain would also be favorable for carbamate Revised: September 10, 2013
formation and facilitate CO2 absorption. However, the effect of Published: September 10, 2013

© 2013 American Chemical Society 6010 dx.doi.org/10.1021/ef4014289 | Energy Fuels 2013, 27, 6010−6016
Energy & Fuels
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the wetted wall experimental apparatus.
When working with aqueous-promoted K2CO3 solution, it is
necessary to take both CO2 hydration with OH− and zwitterionic
reaction with arginine into account in the interpretation of the
absorption rate experiments.22
The absorption rate of CO2 into a CO2−lean K2CO3 and
arginine solution is described by the following equation under
fast pseudo-first-order simplification:24,25
EkL kovDCO2
NCO2 = * )=
(PCO2,b − PCO * )
(PCO2,b − PCO
2 2
HCO2 HCO2
(5)
where NCO2 is the molar flow of CO2 entering the liquid solution;
kL is the physical mass-transfer coefficient;26 PCO2 is the CO2
partial pressure in the gas bulk phase, which can be represented
by the log mean pressure (Pln) at the top and bottom of the
wetted-wall column;6,22,24 PCO * 2 is the equilibrium partial
pressure; HCO2 is the Henry constant of CO2 in solution; E is
the enhancement factor, which represents the ratio between the
rate of absorption in the presence of the chemical reaction and
the physical rate of absorption; kov is the overall pseudo-first-
order reaction rate constant; and DCO2 is the diffusion coefficient
of CO2 in solution, which can be obtained from our previous
work.22
3. EXPERIMENTAL SECTION
3.1. Materials. Arginine (Arg, ≥98% purity) and histidine (His,
≥99% purity) were purchased from Aladdin Reagent, Shanghai, China.
Potassium carbonate, potassium bicarbonate, and other chemicals
were of analytical reagent grade and were used to prepare a chemical
equivalent of 35 wt % K2CO3 solution with known CO2 loading. A
standard solution of 0.05 M sodium hydroxide was purchased from
Tianjin Yongda Reagent, Tianjin, China. CO2 and N2, with a given
purity of 99.99%, were obtained commercially and used for the
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calibration of CO2 gas analyzers with a resolution of 0.01% (H3860/
H3860B, 0−20%, Beijing Huahe Tiandi Propriety Ltd.)
3.2. Experimental Setup and Procedure. Absorption kinetic
experiments were carried out in a wetted-wall column (WWC) shown in
Figure 1. The WWC allows countercurrent contact between a flowing
gas stream and a falling thin liquid film with a measurable surface area
of column for mass transfer, and thus, a fast relative comparison of
absorption rate can be obtained. The unpromoted/promoted prepared
carbonate solutions were pumped through the WWC at the set
temperature until a homogeneous liquid film was obtained. The solvents
were operated in once-through or circulated mode. A defined gas
mixture by mass flow controllers with a full-scale uncertainty of ±0.2%
(D07-7B, 0−10 L/min, Sevenstar Huachuang) passed through a water
saturator and then entered into the bottom of the reaction column and
flowed upward, thereby allowing absorption of CO2 into the liquid film.
The partial pressure of CO2 in entering the gas mixture was maintained
at about 15 kPa in these experiments. CO2 concentration in the outlet
gas stream was recorded by online H3860 analyzer after a two-step
cooling. Physicochemical data for mass transfer were obtained from our
previous work.22
Vapor−liquid equilibrium data for the 35 wt % equivalent carbonate
systems with different CO2 absorption amounts were measured from
323 to 343 K and at near-atmospheric pressure using a specific vapor−
liquid equilibrium apparatus (see Figure 2). Loaded solvent samples,
140 cm3 each, were placed in three successive vessels submerged in a
thermally regulated water bath (±0.1 °C). N2 was first flushed through
the devices to purge out the gases within the system, and then the gas
phase circulated and analyzed online until steady values of CO2
concentration were recorded by the H3860 gas analyzer. Carbonate
salts and arginine in the solutions are ionic; thus, their partial pressures
are considered negligible. The equilibrium partial pressure of CO2, P*CO2,
in the gas phase was calculated as follows:
* = (P − (PHT O − PHIRO))y IR
PCO2 2 2 CO 2 (6)
where yIR
CO2 is the mole fraction of CO2 measured by the gas analyzer;
T
P and PH2O are the total pressure and the vapor pressure of water in the
equilibrium vessel at the equilibrium temperature, respectively; and
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ef4014289 | Energy Fuels 2013, 27, 6010−6016
Energy & Fuels
Figure 2. Vapor−liquid equilibrium apparatus.
PHIR2O is the vapor pressure of water at the temperature of the buffer
tank.
CO2 loading in liquid phase was obtained by taking about 2 cm3 of
sample from vessel 3 for analysis by titration with 0.4 M sulfuric acid.
The loading of carbonate solutions with arginine was verified by the
Chittick CO2 apparatus22,27 and is defined as the moles of CO2 per mole
of potassium ions, [CO2/K+].
The desorption experiment apparatus is shown schematically in
Figure 3. When heating and continuous bubbling by water-saturated N2,
Figure 3. Desorption experiment setup.
potassium bicarbonate and carbamate in CO2-rich solvent decomposed
and released CO2 with N2 discharged into the atmosphere. The liquid
solvent was heated by oil bath with a temperature controlling magnetic
stirrer (DF-101S, ±0.1 °C).
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4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1. Absorption Performance by Promoted Carbonate
Solvent. Absorption flux, NCO2, for various systems was
investigated in WWC at 322 K. Two basic amino acids, arginine
and histidine, were used as promoters in 35 wt % K2CO3, and
the absorbent solutions were operated in a once-through mode.
The pH of the absorbents was kept constant at 13.0 by KOH in
order to exclude the contribution of kOH−[OH−] to kov.22 Gas
and liquid flow rates were 252 and 2.88 L h−1, respectively. The
CO2 concentration in the inlet gas stream was 17.2% (v/v).
Under these operating conditions, the fraction of mass-transfer
resistance on the gas side was lower than 3%. The results of
experiments compared with unpromoted 35 wt % K2CO3
solution are shown in Figure 4. Enhancement factors (E) are
also compared for these absorption systems.
It can be seen that CO2 absorption performance differs greatly
for the investigated systems. For the unpromoted 35 wt % K2CO3
solution (PC35), NCO2 and E are 1.306 × 10−3 mol m−2 s−1 and
193, respectively. In the promoted carbonate solutions, both
arginine and histidine can greatly improve the absorption rate.
With the addition of 1 wt % arginine, NCO2 can accelerate by
43.5% over the PC35 solution. Moreover, with the increase of
arginine concentration, NCO2 increases markedly. For the PC35
promoted by 5 wt % arginine, NCO2 and E can reach 3.00 × 10−3
mol m−2 s−1 and 454, respectively. Histidine also shows excellent
performance as a promising promoter. For the PC35 promoted
by 1.2 wt % histidine, E can reach 490, which is highest in the
investigated systems. The possible reason is due to the effect
of their basic side chains (R groups). The two investigated
amino acids both contain a primarily amino group which has
been shown to have fast reaction rate with CO2.5,6 However, the
guanidinium group (pKa = 12.5) in arginine and the imidazole
group (pKa = 6.0) in histidine28 have different charged states in
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ef4014289 | Energy Fuels 2013, 27, 6010−6016
Energy & Fuels Article

Figure 4. Effect of promoters on CO2 absorption performance in

35 wt % K2CO3 solutions at 322 K: PC35, 35 wt % equivalent K2CO3;
PC35 + Arg1, 1 wt % arginine added; PC35 + His1.2, 1.2 wt % histidine
added at 325.5 K; PC35 + Arg3, 3 wt % arginine added; PC35 + Arg5,
5 wt % arginine added.

the working solution (pH 13.0). The uncharged imidazole group

in histidine acting as a secondary amine can also react with CO2
and then results in fast absorption rate. However, its solubility in
water is lower than that of arginine. Arginine was considered for
further investigation in this study.
The effect of arginine concentration in 35% equivalent K2CO3
solution on CO2 absorption behaviors along with absorption
time is shown in Figure 5. The absorbent solutions with arginine
from 0 to 5 wt % were pumped from tank 1 and operated in a
circulated mode at 321.5 K. With the increasing absorption time,
CO2 loading increases and the pH of the solutions decreases,
which results in a low absorption flux. It can be seen from Figure
5a that the absorption flux increases with the increasing arginine
concentration and decreases against the absorption time under
the investigated range. At the beginning of absorption, CO2
loading for different promoted absorbents is low and the arginine
is active as a promoter; thus, the absorption rates differ greatly for
different arginine concentration in carbonate solutions. The
addition of 5 wt % arginine can promote the uptake of CO2 by a
factor of 2.0−3.0. With a further increasing absorption time up to
3.0 h, the fraction of the active arginine decreases greatly and the
contribution of arginine to the absorption rate is small; then,
NCO2 for all solutions decreases to about 1.2 × 10−3 mol m−2 s−1.
The effect of CO2 loading on NCO2 is shown in Figure 5b. When
CO2 loading increases with the elapsed absorption time, NCO2
decreases greatly for all investigated carbonate solutions.
These absorption behaviors could be explained from chemical
reactions in section 2 and an absorption process. Both arginine
and hydroxyl ion concentrations have an effect on the absorption
rate. At the beginning, the high concentrations of hydroxyl ion
and arginine will result in fast absorption rates. Arginine contains
a primary amino group, so fast reaction with CO2 is expected.
Therefore, the increase of arginine concentration will result in
the marked promotion of the reaction rate. With increasing
cycled operation time, the concentration of bicarbonate ion
increases and the concentrations of hydroxyl ion and active
arginine component decrease, so the absorption fluxes gradually
drop with the increasing CO2 loading.
4.2. Effect of Arginine on Vapor−Liquid Equilibrium for
35% Equivalent K2CO3 Solutions. Equilibrium CO2 partial
6013
Figure 5. Absorption behaviors of CO2 in 35 wt % equivalent K2CO3
with different arginine concentrations at 321.5 K: (a) absorption rate of
CO2 along with absorption time and (b) CO2 loading of solutions.
pressures for the different absorbent solutions are shown in
Table 1. The experimental results for a 35 wt % K2CO3 solution
at 343 K from this work are presented alongside data from
Tosh et al.29 and Endo et al.30 and the default ASPEN plus
E-NRTL values in Figure 6. The effect of arginine and temperature
on equilibrium CO2 partial pressures obtained in this study has
also been presented in Figures 7 and 8, respectively.
Comparison of experimental results show that the method
applied in this study can reasonably replicate results from the
static rig of Tosh and the dynamic rig of Endo considering the
difference in concentration of K2CO3 solution, while ASPEN
simulation results for 35 wt % K2CO3 solution can closely match
the data at low CO2 loadings obtained in this study.
It can be found from Table 1 that equilibrium CO2 partial
pressures for all solutions tested are below 1.50 kPa at the
temperature range investigated, which is far lower than the CO2
partial pressure in flue gases (ca. 12−15 kPa) from a postcombustion
coal-fired power station. At the relatively low loadings (α < 0.15),
partial pressures are not more than 0.35 kPa and then the driving
force (PCO2,b − PCO * 2) has little effect on the absorption rate. The
chemical reactions in liquid have a great effect on the absorption rate
(eq 5). This finding can be useful for controlling the components
of cycled absorbents as well as the desorption process.
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ef4014289 | Energy Fuels 2013, 27, 6010−6016
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Table 1. Vapor−Liquid Equilibrium Data for 35 wt %

Equivalent K2CO3 with 0−5 wt % Arginine at 323−343 K
P*CO2 a (kPa)
absorbent solventb CO2 loading P (kPa) 323 K 333 K 343 K
PC35 0.10 103.33 0.074 0.109 0.147
0.15 103.33 0.188 0.267 0.327
0.20 103.53 0.181 0.434 0.603
0.25 103.53 0.428 0.653 0.803
0.30 103.43 0.559 0.786 1.077
0.35 103.33 0.748 1.068 1.384
PC35 + 1 wt % Arg 0.10 103.43 0.128 0.175 0.124
0.15 103.33 0.172 0.223 0.268
0.20 103.33 0.247 0.311 0.391
0.25 103.33 0.410 0.608 0.765
0.30 103.53 0.563 0.815 1.043
0.35 103.23 0.697 0.930 1.186
PC35 + 3 wt % Arg 0.10 103.23 0.077 0.084 0.110
0.15 103.43 0.128 0.132 0.176
0.20 103.43 0.213 0.360 0.465
0.25 103.33 0.430 0.604 0.755
0.30 103.33 0.630 0.894 1.118
0.35 103.33 0.887 1.199 1.456
PC35 + 5 wt % Arg 0.1 103.43 0.051 0.072 0.074
0.15 103.43 0.099 0.115 0.143
0.20 103.33 0.144 0.209 0.283
0.25 103.43 0.379 0.497 0.617
0.30 103.43 0.537 0.758 0.968
0.35 103.43 0.825 1.133 1.379
a
P*CO2 = equilibrium partial pressure of CO2. bPC35: 35 wt %
equivalent K2CO3; Arg: arginine, P, total pressure in the equilibrium
vessel.

Figure 7. Partial pressure of CO2 over a 35 wt % equivalent K2CO3

solution (a) at temperature from 323 to 343 K and (b) with arginine
addition.

Figure 6. Partial pressure of CO2 above a K2CO3 solution as function of
loading at 343 K. PC30, PC35, and PC40 represent 30, 35, and 40 wt %
equivalent K2CO3 solution, respectively.
As can be seen from Figure 7a, CO2 partial pressures increase
with the increasing loading and temperature of solutions.
Equilibrium temperature has little effect on CO2 partial pressure
at low CO2 loading. With increasing the loading of the solution,
about 0.6 kPa difference is observed when α is over 0.3. This
tendency is consistent with comparable studies from Endo et al.30
It can be found that CO2 partial pressures decrease a little
when arginine is added into 35 wt % equivalent K2CO3 solutions,
as shown in Figure 7b. The lower the equilibrium CO2 partial
6014
pressure, the larger is the driving force for CO2 absorption. In the
investigated range, CO2 partial pressure has a little bit of decrease
compared to that for unpromoted carbonate solution. This
phenomenon suggests that adding arginine can increase the
solubility of CO2 in carbonate solution and is favorable for CO2
capture. However, at high CO2 loading, e.g., α > 0.3, the effect of
arginine on partial pressure is low; in this case large amounts of
carbonate are converted to bicarbonate, and carbamate has also
been formed from active promoters. The main chemical
equilibria in the liquid phase are considered as above-mentioned
in eqs 1−3. Addition of arginine has less effect on the absorption
rate at the conditions with high loading, which is consistent with
the finding from Figure 5b. As shown in Figure 8a,b, the effect
of temperature on CO2 partial pressure for both 3 and 5 wt %
arginine-promoted solutions is similar. At CO2 loading lower
than 0.15, equilibrium CO2 partial pressure hardly changes with
the variation of temperature from 323 to 343 K. However, at CO2
loading higher than 0.3, CO2 partial pressure increases along with
the rising temperature.
4.3. Desorption. Desorption kinetics was carried out
from 365 to 376 K using the apparatus shown in Figure 3.
Unpromoted and 3 wt % arginine-promoted 35 wt % equivalent
K2CO3 with the same loading (α = 0.5) were used. The flow
rate of stripping gas N2 was kept constant at 16.8 L h−1.
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ef4014289 | Energy Fuels 2013, 27, 6010−6016
Energy & Fuels
Figure 8. Partial pressure of CO2 over a 35 wt % equivalent K2CO3
solution with (a) 3 wt % arginine and (b) 5 wt % arginine at temperature
from 323 to 343 K.
The temperature of the water saturator and the outlet of the
condenser was kept at 303 K. The CO2 loading of the solution
against desorption elapsed time has been shown in Figure 9. The
time was recorded when the CO2 was found in exit gases.
It can be seen from the desorption curves that different
desorption behaviors were found for unpromoted and 3 wt %
arginine-promoted 35 wt % equivalent K2CO3 along with
different regeneration temperatures. At elevated temperature,
the bicarbonate in K2CO3 solution is converted to carbonate
and the CO2 is released, which results in the decreasing loading.
The slope of desorption curves can represent the rate of released
CO2. With the increase of the temperature from 365 to 376 K,
the desorption rate is significantly improved for the unpromoted
K2CO3. The addition of arginine can also improve the desorption
rate. At 365 K, for 3 wt % arginine addition, the desorption rate
of CO2 was significantly higher than that for unpromoted
K2CO3. Its desorption behavior is similar to that of unpromoted
K2CO3 at 376 K. However, small changes can be observed for
promoted solution at 365−376 K. Moreover, the desorption
rate of CO2 decreases markedly when the CO2 loading is lower
than 0.20. The slope of the desorption curves become small.
In the first 3 h, the CO2 loading decreased from 0.5 to 0.25.
However, the loading decreases to about 0.15 at 10 h elapsed
time. It is very helpful in designing the absorption and desorp-
tion process.
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Figure 9. Desorption behaviors of unpromoted and promoted
carbonate solutions against elapsed time.
5. CONCLUSION
The effect of arginine on absorption and desorption kinetics and
vapor−liquid equilibrium in aqueous 35 wt % equivalent K2CO3
was studied. Arginine was found as an effective rate promoter
to improve the CO2 capture efficiency. The addition of 5 wt %
arginine can promote the uptake of CO2 by a factor of 2.0−3.0.
The CO2 partial pressures for 35 wt % equivalent K2CO3 with
0−5 wt % arginine was determined. CO2 partial pressures
increase with the increasing temperature and loading of solution.
The addition of arginine can lower the CO2 partial pressure,
which is favorable for the CO2 absorption. Different desorption
curves were observed for unpromoted and 3 wt % arginine-
promoted 35 wt % equivalent K2CO3. The addition of arginine
can improve the desorption rate. With advantages using aqueous
K2CO3 solution, the arginine/K2CO3 solvent could potentially
reduce CO2 capture costs.
■
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*Tel.: +86 311 88632183. Fax: +86 311 88632183. E-mail:
shufengshen@gmail.com.
Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
■
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We acknowledge the financial support provided by the National
Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21206029),
Hebei Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant
No. B2012208022), and Hebei Provincial Scientific Research
Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars (2013−
2015). We also gratefully thank Dr. Ujjal Ghosh from Curtin
University Malaysia and Dr. Xianhui Wang from the National
Institute of Clean-and-Low-Carbon Energy Beijing for support
of default Aspen data.
■
NOMENCLATURE
D = diffusion coefficient, m2 s−1
E = enhancement factor, dimensionless
H = Henry coefficient, kPa m3 kmol−1
k2,Arg = second-order rate constant, L mol−1 s−1
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ef4014289 | Energy Fuels 2013, 27, 6010−6016
Energy & Fuels Article

KG = overall gas-phase mass-transfer coefficient, mol m−2 s−1 (22) Shen, S.; Feng, X.; Zhao, R.; Ghosh, U. K.; Chen, A. Chem. Eng. J.
Pa−1 2013, 222, 478−487.
kL = liquid-phase physical mass-transfer coefficient, m s−1 (23) Caplow, M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1968, 90, 6795−6803.
kOH− = reaction rate constant with hydroxide ion, L mol−1 s−1 (24) Portugal, A. F.; Derks, P. W. J.; Versteeg, G. F.; Magalhães, F. D.;
Mendes, A. Chem. Eng. Sci. 2007, 62, 6534−6547.
kov = overall kinetic constant, s−1 (25) Cullinane, J. T.; Rochelle, G. T. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2006, 45,
NCO2 = CO2 absorption flow, mol m−2 s−1 2531−2545.
P = total pressure in the equilibrium vessel, kPa (26) Chen, X. Carbon dioxide thermodynamics, kinetics, and mass
PCO2 = CO2 partial pressure in gas bulk phase, kPa transfer in aqueous piperazine derivatives and other amines. Ph.D.
P*CO2 = equilibrium partial pressure, kPa Dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin, 2011; pp 59−60.
PHIR2O = vapor pressure of water at the temperature of the buffer (27) Ji, L.; Miksche, S. J.; Rimpf, L. M.; Farthing, G. A. CO2 chemical
tank, kPa solvent screening. 8th Annual Conference on Carbon Capture and
PHT 2O = vapor pressure of water in the equilibrium vessel, kPa SequestrationDOE/NETL, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 2009.
T = temperature, K (28) Dawson, R. M. C.; Elliot, D. C.; Elliot, W. H.; Jones, K. M. Data for
wt % = weight percentage of K2CO3 solutions Biochemical Research, 3rd ed.; Oxford Science: Oxford, U.K., 1986.
(29) Tosh, J. S.; Field, J. H.; Benson, H. E.; Haynes, W. P. Equilibrium
yIR
CO2 = mole fraction of CO2 measured by gas analyzer, Study of the System Potassium Carbonate, Potassium Bicarbonate,
dimensionless Carbon Dioxide, and Water. U.S. Bureau of Mines Report Investigation No.
Greek Letters 5484; 1959; 23 pp.
α = CO2 loading, mol CO2 per mol of potassium ions (30) Endo, K.; Nguyen, Q. S.; Kentish, S. E.; Stevens, G. W. Fluid Phase
Equilib. 2011, 309, 109−113.
Subscripts
CO2 = carbon dioxide
H2O = water

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