CO2 capture plants are expensive to design and operate. This project builds computer models that predict how capture solvents behave inside absorption columns and capture plants.
An accurate and complete column model for an absorption-based carbon capture process must describe phase equilibrium, electrolyte speciation, reaction kinetics and mass transfer in a consistent way. This is a demand that existing simulators can only partially meet, and mainly for well-studied solvents such as aqueous monoethanolamine (MEA).
This project develops rate-based process models for CO2 capture that extend beyond MEA to alternative solvent systems, such as aqueous ammonia/potassium salt mixtures. The thermodynamic basis is the DTU-developed extended UNIQUAC activity coefficient model. The model will be extended by regressing parameters against existing and new equilibrium and speciation data for the relevant electrolyte systems. These are to be ultimately combined with mass-transfer and kinetic parameters obtained from wetted-wall-column (WWC) measurements.
The resulting thermodynamic model will be incorporated into DTU’s in-house column models and be validated against pilot-scale data. From here a complete process model with absorber, desorber and other unit operations will be built.
The project will include analysis of how uncertainties in thermodynamic and kinetic parameters propagate to predicted process performance. The work contributes to the INNO-CCUS CapSim project and builds on DTU's in-house CAPCO2 column model and DTU’s in-house thermodynamic model extended UNIQUAC.
Main supervisor:
Nicolas von Solms
Co- supervisor:
Xiaodong Liang
Georgios M. Kontogeorgis