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Experimental Study on the Novel Direct Steam Stripping Process for

Postcombustion CO 2 Capture

Article in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research · November 2014

DOI: 10.1021/ie503517y

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Experimental Study on the Novel Direct Steam Stripping Process for

Postcombustion CO2 Capture
Mengxiang Fang,† Qunyang Xiang,† Tao Wang,*,† Yann Le Moullec,‡ Jiahui Lu,§ Wenmin Jiang,†
Xuping Zhou,† Jinbai Zhang,§ and Guofei Chen§
†
State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, P. R. China
‡
Fluid Dynamics, Power Generation and Environment Department, EDF R&D, 6 quai Watier, Chatou Cedex 78401, France
§
EDF China R&D Center, EDF Asia Pacific Direction, China Division, Beijing 100005, P. R. China

ABSTRACT: High energy consumption is a crucial issue for the regeneration of solvent for postcombustion CO2 capture by
chemical absorption. Primary modeling results show the potential to reduce the energy consumption through a novel solvent
regeneration process by direct steam stripping. This work is an extension of our previous exploration and aims to validate the
direct steam stripping process by experimental studies on a lab-scale stripping platform. We investigated the direct steam
stripping and the conventional stripping mode in terms of energy consumption and steam condensation. The results showed, for
the direct steam stripping mode, the optimum energy consumption at 1 atm was 2.98 MJ/kg CO2, 23.2% lower than that of the
conventional stripping mode. Higher solvent feeding temperature and carrier steam superheating temperature were beneficial to
reduce steam condensation in the column. We found 96−99.5 °C feeding solvent temperature was suitable considering both the
energy consumption and steam condensation. Besides, we proposed an improved direct steam stripping process using carrier
gases such as hydrocarbon, which could further reduce the latent heat required.

1. INTRODUCTION maintain the water balance. In this way, the latent heat of the
Extensive carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are seen as a major steam is mostly wasted. Recently, the idea of solvent
contributor to global warming.1 Fossil fuel power plants are regeneration through direct steam stripping in order to save
considered to be the largest source of CO2 emissions.2 CO2 the latent heat in the regeneration process has been mentioned
capture and sequestration is a viable option to significantly in literature.26 The idea is to extract superheated steam from
reduce CO2 emissions from fossil fuel power plants. Among all low-pressure steam turbine and inject it into the regeneration
the CO2 capture technologies, postcombustion capture (PCC) column as carrier steam. This steam is then separated from CO2
by chemical absorption using aqueous monoethanolamine via a condensation after the regeneration column and lower
(MEA) is relatively mature and can be used on existing pressure steam is generated by evaporation, this low pressure
power plants.3,4 steam is then sent back to the low pressure turbine. The steam
However, the biggest challenge for postcombustion CO2 condensation and evaporation process is made through a heat
capture by chemical absorption is the high energy consumption exchanger by utilizing the heat released in condensation to
during solvent regeneration which results in a coal-fired power evaporate the condensed water at a lower pressure. In this way,
plant output loss of approximately 20−25% when coupled with a large portion of the latent heat can be efficiently recovered.
CO2 compression.5−9 The preliminary simulation results show that the direct steam
Several researchers have done parametric optimizations on stripping process can reduce the amount of steam needed very
bench-scale or pilot-scale experimental facilities to reduce the significantly.26 This work is an extension of our previous
energy consumption for solvent regeneration.10−13 Meanwhile, exploration and aims to validate the direct steam stripping
process modifications have also been carried out to reduce the system by experimental methods. We have built a lab-scale
energy consumption and operation costs.14−21 The mostly stripping system and carried out series of experiments on the
discussed process modifications are solvent intercooling, conventional stripping mode and the direct steam stripping
solvent split-flow, flashing of hot rich solvent, vacuum stripper, mode. Through these experiments, the regeneration energy and
multipressure stripper, and advanced heat integration of the the steam condensation at different operation conditions have
capture process. However, most of the modifications reported been investigated in order to seeking the optimized operation
in the literature and patents are conceptual designs studied only conditions for the direct steam stripping process. These first
at the modeling phase. The experimental validation of the novel experimental results show the potential of this modification and
processes is very limited up to our knowledge.22,23 will help to improve the efficiency of the direct steam stripping
During the CO2 regeneration process, a great amount of process.
carrier steam is needed to drive out CO2 from the liquid. In the
current technologies, the carrier steam is generated through Received: September 5, 2014
solvent boiling in a reboiler.24,25 The excessive stripping steam Revised: October 23, 2014
exiting the column is cooled down, separated from the CO2 and Accepted: October 28, 2014
then sent back to the stripping or absorbing column to Published: October 28, 2014

© 2014 American Chemical Society 18054 dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie503517y | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2014, 53, 18054−18062
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article

Figure 1. Schematic view of the experimental platform.

2. EXPERIMENTAL SECTION Heat loss of the stripping column was measured by

experiments at different room temperatures. Electrical heating
Materials. MEA at technical grade (>99.7%) was purchased
rods at the bottom of the column were used to compensate the
from the Oriental Petrochemical Corporation and diluted with
heat loss of the system. Besides, the heating rods could also
deionized water to the desired concentration. The exact
provide regeneration heat in a conventional stripping mode.
concentration of MEA solutions was determined by titration
Experimental Conditions. The operation conditions of
using standardized sulfuric acid (Sinopharm Chemical Reagent
the experimental system are listed in Table 1. The rich solvent
Co., Ltd., AR). The CO2 gas (>99.9%) used was produced by
Hangzhou Jingong Gas Corporation.
Experimental Platform. The schematic view of the Table 1. Operation Conditions of the Experimental Platform
experimental platform is shown in Figure 1. The main part of parameter value
the platform is a stripper column randomly packed with 3 mm MEA concentration (M) 5
× 3 mm Dixon rings (internal diameter: 0.08 m, total packing CO2 loading of rich solvent (mol/mol) 0.499−0.516
height: 1.6 m). Other equipment include a steam generator, a feeding solvent flow rate (mL/min) 166.7
steam flow meter, heating wires, electrical heating rods, rich- feeding solvent temperature (°C) 91−99.5
solvent tank, a gear pump, a solvent preheater, a condenser, a operation pressure (atm) 1
water tank, and a wet gas flow meter. heat loss of the column (W) 85−104
The direct carrier steam is supplied by a steam generator and
superheated by 20−50 K above its boiling point by using
heating wires before being injected into the stripper column.
The CO2-rich solvent is stored in a rich-solvent tank and has been prepared by bubbling CO2 gas into the 5 M MEA
preheated to desired temperatures before being injected into solution until the loading reaches 0.5 mol CO2/mol MEA. An
the stripper column. The gas mixture of carrier steam and CO2 oil bath is used to preheat the rich solvent before it is injected
exiting from the column top is then condensed in a condenser. into the column. The heat loss of the column was room-
The condensed water is collected in the water tank, and the temperature dependent. To compensate the heat loss at the
pure CO2 flow rate is measured by a wet-gas flow meter. room temperature range 283−298 K, the power of the heating
Solvent samples have been taken from four extraction points rods was set to 85−104 W, a setting determined by
along the column for analyzing the MEA concentration and experimental tests.
CO2 loading. An automatic acid−base titrator has been used to
measure the MEA concentration and the CO2 loading was 3. METHODOLOGY
measured by the same apparatus as the one reported by Zhu et The CO2 regeneration energy required in a conventional
al.27 stripping process can be calculated by eq 1.
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Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article

Figure 2. Mass flow rate of CO2 regenerated (solid markers) and total energy consumption for CO2 regeneration (hollow markers) as a function of
total heat duty in the conventional stripping mode. (The total heat duty includes the reboiler duty and the preheater duty; feeding solvent
temperature is at 96 °C.)

Q t = (Q reboiler + Q preheater − Q loss)/qmCO (1) Q preheater = Q sen,0 + Q reac,0

2

where Qt, in J/kg, is the total heat requirement for the = c pqmsolvent (Tfeed − T0) + ΔHabs,CO2qmCO ,0
2
conventional stripping process; Qreboiler, in W, is the reboiler (6)
duty; Qpreheater, in W, is the heat supplied by the preheater; Qloss,
in W, is the heat loss of the column; and qmCO2, in kg/s, is the where Qsen,0, in W, is the sensible heat supplied by the solvent
preheater; Qreac,0, in W, is heat of reaction supplied by the
regenerated CO2 mass flow rate. solvent preheater; cp, in J/(kg K), is the specific heat of the rich
The CO2 regeneration energy required in a direct steam solvent obtained from literature;28,29 qmsolvent, in kg/s, is the
stripping process can be calculated by eq 2. mass flow rate of the rich solvent; Tfeed, in °C, is the feeding
temperature of the rich solvent into the stripper; T0, in °C, is an
Q d = (Q steam + Q preheater + Q reboiler − Q loss)/qmCO
2 assumed temperature of the rich solvent after an economizer
(2) with a temperature pinch of 15 K; we choose T0 = 85 °C for the
of all the direct steam stripping experimental cases in this work, 1 atm operation pressure; ΔHabs,CO2, in J/kg, is the CO2
the heat supplied by the reboiler is only used to compensate the absorption heat with amine obtained from available data in
heat loss of the system; eq 2 can therefore be simplified as literature;30,31 and qmCO2,0, in kg/s, is the CO2 mass
regeneration rate of the preheated solvent injected into the
Q d = (Q steam + Q preheater)/qmCO (3) column without any other heat sources (reboiler or direct
2
carrier steam) which is measured by experiments in this work.
where Qd, in J/kg, is the total energy requirement for the direct The lean CO2 loading of the regenerated solvent can be
steam stripping process; Qsteam, in W, is the extracted energy of calculated by
the carrier steam during the regeneration process, calculated by qnCO
eq 4: αCO2,lean = αCO2,rich − 2

camineqv solvent (7)

Q steam = Hsteam,injqmsteam,inj − Hsteam,recqmsteam,rec (4)
where αCO2,lean, in mol/mol, is the CO2 loading of lean solvent;
where Hsteam,inj, in J/kg, is the enthalpy of the superheated αCO2,rich, in mol/mol, is the CO2 loading of the rich solvent;
steam before injected into the column; Hsteam,rec, in J/kg, is the
enthalpy of the steam recovered after the regeneration process; qnCO2, in mol/s, is the CO2 molar regeneration rate; camine, in
qmsteam,inj, in kg/s, is the mass flow rate of the steam injected mol/m3, is the amine concentration of the solvent; and qvsolvent,
and qmsteam,rec, in kg/s, is the mass flow rate of the steam in m3/s, is the volume flow rate of the rich solvent.
recovered which can be calculated by eq 5.
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
qmsteam,rec = χ (qmsteam,inj − qmsteam,con ) (5) Comparison Results between Conventional Stripping
Mode and Direct Steam Stripping Mode. First, com-
where χ is the proportion of the carrier steam exiting the parative experiments between the direct steam stripping mode
stripper column which can be recovered through a and the conventional stripping mode have been carried out.
condensation and re-evaporation process; qmsteam,con is the The comparison studies have been investigated at the same
mass flow rate of carrier steam condensed in the column. rich-solvent flow rate and conditions (5 M MEA; CO2 loading,
The heat supplied by the preheater can be calculated by 0.5 mol/mol; solvent preheating temperature, 96 °C) and
18056 dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie503517y | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2014, 53, 18054−18062
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article

stripper conditions (1 atm; reboiler temperature, 100 °C). total preheater duty, including the sensible heat and the
Figure 2 shows the mass flow rate of CO2 regenerated and total reaction heat, is 229 W for the 96 °C feeding solvent
energy consumption for CO2 regeneration as a function of total temperature cases.
heat duty in the conventional stripping mode. The total heat In Figure 2, the preheater duty is fixed and the total heat duty
duty includes the preheater duty and the reboiler duty. changes with the reboiler duty. When the total heat duty is low,
The preheater duty at different feeding solvent temperatures the CO2 regeneration rate increases rapidly with the increase of
can be calculated using eq 6. The sensible heat supplied by the total heat duty, which results in a decrease of total energy
preheater is calculated with the specific heat and mass flow rate consumption. When the reboiler duty exceeds 600 W, the
of the rich solvent and the temperature difference between the increase of CO2 regeneration rate slows down with the increase
feeding solvent temperature 96 °C and T0 (85 °C). The of the reboiler duty. Hence, we can obtain the optimum energy
reaction heat supplied by the preheater was studied by consumption for CO2 regeneration of the conventional
experiments at different feeding solvent temperatures without stripping mode. The value is 3.88 MJ/kg CO2 regenerated
other heat sources. The mass flow rate of CO2 regenerated with
for a 406 W total heat duty. This energy consumption result is
only solvent preheating is shown in Figure 3. When the feeding
comparable to the results of literature for MEA solvent.32
Experimental results from Li et al.33 are 4.26 MJ/kg CO2 for
the regeneration of a rich solution (30 wt % MEA, 0.5 mol/mol
CO2 loading). Knudsen et al.22 show 3.7 MJ/kg CO2 on the
industrial pilot plant of Esbjerg (30 wt % MEA, 10 K pinch
economizer, 12.5% CO2 in flue gases). The modeling result
from Alie et al.34 and Singh et al.35 is, respectively, 4 MJ/kg
CO2 and 3.8 MJ/kg CO2.
In the direct steam stripping process, the solvent preheater
and the carrier steam provide the energy consumed. The
preheater duty in the direct steam stripping mode is equal to
that in a conventional stripping mode. The regeneration heat
from the carrier steam can be calculated by eqs 4 and 5. A
fraction of the carrier steam is condensed in the column
through heat exchange with the solvent during regeneration,
while the rest of the carrier steam exits the column with
regenerated CO2. In the direct steam stripping process, the
carrier steam out of the column can be recovered at lower
Figure 3. Mass flow rate of CO2 regenerated as a function of feeding pressure and sent back to the steam turbine. The proportion of
solvent temperature with no other heat sources (0 W reboiler duty and the recovered carrier steam χ depends on the temperature
no direct injected steam).
pinch of the economizer and the operating parameter of the hot
and cold streams. It is possible to obtain a large χ value with a
solvent temperature is 96 °C, the mass flow rate of CO2 small temperature pinch of the economizer. In this work, χ =
regenerated is 5.13 × 10−5 kg/s, and thus the corresponding 0.8 has been considered for a relatively large temperature pinch
reaction heat supplied by the preheater can be calculated. The (10−12 K).

Figure 4. Mass flow rate of CO2 regenerated (solid markers) and total energy consumption for CO2 regeneration (hollow markers) as a function of
carrier steam flow rate in the direct steam stripping mode. (Feeding solvent temperature is at 96 °C; carrier steam superheated degree is 30 K and χ
is 0.8.)

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Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article

Figure 5. Mass flow rate of CO2 regenerated (solid markers) and condensed carrier steam percentage (hollow markers) as a function of carrier steam
superheated temperature. (Feeding solvent temperature is at 96 °C, and carrier steam flow rate is 0.617 kg/h.)

Figure 6. Mass flow rate of CO2 regenerated (solid markers) and condensed carrier steam percentage (hollow markers) as a function of feeding
solvent temperature. (Carrier steam superheated degree is 30 K, and carrier steam flow rate is 0.617 kg/h.)

Figure 4 shows the mass flow rate of CO2 regenerated and regeneration in the energy optimized case of the direct steam
the total energy consumption for CO2 regeneration as a stripping mode is 0.291 mol/mol, lower than that of energy
function of carrier steam flow rate in the direct steam stripping optimized case of the conventional stripping mode, which is
mode. The effect of carrier steam flow rate on CO 2 0.329 mol/mol. Lower lean CO2 loading leads to a larger cyclic
regeneration rate is pronounced when the carrier steam flow capacity between rich and lean solvent indicating that less
rate is below 0.4 kg/s and becomes not as effective above 0.8 solvent is required for the CO2 capture process. Besides, lower
kg/s. The minimal energy consumption for CO2 regeneration lean CO2 loading can benefit the CO2 absorption as well.36
of the direct steam stripping mode can be evaluated. This value Effect of Carrier Steam Superheating and Solvent
is 2.98 MJ/kg CO2 at a 0.617 kg/h carrier steam flow rate, Preheating. In the direct steam stripping process, water
23.2% lower than that of the conventional process. With balance in the stripper column is critical. The solvent is diluted
adequate optimization of operation conditions, the electric by steam condensation inside the column. Hence, we chose
penalty with direct steam stripping process will be reduced by superheated carrier steam and relatively high feeding solvent
20−30% which allows the efficiency loss on a power plant temperature to avoid most of the steam condensation. In this
decrease to approximately 9% from the standard value of work, the carrier steam superheated degree ranging from 10 to
11.95%.26 50 K and the feeding solvent temperature ranging from 91 to
The experimental results show that the direct steam stripping 99.5 °C have been tested.
process has significant advantages of regeneration energy The effect of the carrier steam superheated degree on CO2
consumption over the conventional stripping process. Fur- regeneration rate and condensed steam percentage is shown in
thermore, the CO2 loading of the lean solvent after Figure 5. The CO2 regeneration rate changes very little with the
18058 dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie503517y | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2014, 53, 18054−18062
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article

Figure 7. Regeneration energy consumption (solid markers) and condensed carrier steam percentage (hollow markers) as a function of carrier steam
flow rate at three different feeding solvent temperature: 91 (black), 96 (red), 99.5 (blue) °C. (Carrier steam superheated degree is 30 K.)

Figure 8. Titration results of MEA concentration (square markers) and CO2 loading (cross markers) at the four sample points. The dashed lines are
the lean CO2 loading calculated by the CO2 regeneration rate using eq 7. (Carrier steam flow rate is 0.617 kg/h; feeding solvent temperature is at 96
°C, and carrier steam superheated degrees are 30 K (a) and 50 K (b), respectively.)

increase of the carrier steam superheated degree from 10 to 50 We also investigated the optimum carrier steam flow rate at
K while the steam condensation is decreased. Since the extra three different feeding solvent temperatures. Figure 7 shows
energy for superheating the carrier steam is relatively small, a regeneration energy consumption and condensed steam
high carrier steam superheated temperature is preferred for the percentage as a function of carrier steam flow rate at three
direct steam stripping process in order to reduce steam different feeding solvent temperatures: 91, 96, and 99.5 °C. To
condensation. avoid steam condensation, a higher feeding solvent temperature
The effects of feeding solvent temperature on the CO2 (99.5 °C) is preferred. However, the optimum regeneration
regeneration rate and condensed steam percentage are energy at 99.5 °C is the highest among the three feeding
presented in Figure 6. A higher feeding solvent temperature solvent temperatures. For the selection of a suitable solvent
results in a small increase of CO2 regeneration rate and a preheating temperature for the direct steam stripping system,
significant decrease of steam condensation. At a feeding solvent both the regeneration energy and the steam condensation
temperature of 99.5 °C, the condensed steam percentage can should be considered. A 96 to 99.5 °C feeding solvent
be reduced to only 3.5%, whereas the value is approximately temperature can be the operation window for the direct steam
40% when the feeding solvent temperature is around 90 °C. At stripping process coupled with the carrier steam superheating.
a low feeding solvent temperature for the direct steam stripping Liquid Sample Analyses. Liquid samplings along the
process, a large part of the regeneration energy is supplied by column allow a better understanding of the regeneration
carrier steam condensation which can compensate the decrease process in the column.15,37 In our experimental system, there
of heat supplied by the preheater. Hence, the CO2 regeneration are four sample points along the stripper column, the sample
rate is not significantly decreased at lower feeding solvent points 1, 2, 3, and 4 are respectively at 340, 740, 1140, and 1540
temperature. mm below the top of the packing layer.
18059 dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie503517y | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2014, 53, 18054−18062
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article

Figure 9. Titration results of MEA concentration (a) and CO2 loading (b) at the four sample points as a function of carrier steam flow rate. The
dashed line in panel b is the lean-CO2 loading calculated by the CO2 regeneration rate using eq 7. (Feeding solvent temperature is at 96 °C, and
carrier steam superheated degree is 30 K.)

Figure 10. Improved direct steam stripping process.

Figure 8 shows the titration results of MEA concentration Figure 9 displays the titration results of MEA concentration
and CO2 loading for two experimental cases. Repeated samples and CO2 loading at the four sample points as a function of
were taken and analyzed at each sample point. The MEA carrier steam flow rate. The titrated MEA concentration
concentrations of all samples are in the range of 4.65−4.96 M, a presents a slightly decreasing trend with the increase of carrier
steam flow rate as the condensed steam weight is increased.
little lower than the MEA concentrations of the rich solutions
These results prove that the MEA concentration along the
(5 M) due to steam condensation. The titrated CO2 loading column is influenced by steam condensation. The titrated CO2
decreases from the sample point 1 to sample point 4 indicating loading decreases with the carrier steam flow rate because of
that the regeneration degree goes deeper when the solvent the deeper regeneration degree at higher carrier steam flow rate.
drops from the top of the column to the bottom. The lean CO2 loading calculated by eq 7 is also shown in
18060 dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie503517y | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2014, 53, 18054−18062
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article

Figures 8 and 9. The values are always higher than the CO2 process at 1 atm. Besides, an improved direct steam stripping
loading of sample from sample point 4 and even higher than process has been proposed in order to solve the steam pollution
that from sample point 3 especially when the carrier steam flow issue and further reduce the latent heat required.

■
rate is large. This probably occurs because the solvent drops
have longer residence time when accumulated at the sample AUTHOR INFORMATION
points than those that drop directly to the bottom of the
column. Hence, we think the regeneration process in our Corresponding Author
stripper column is not an equilibrium system. A longer stripper *E-mail: [email protected].
column or packing material with larger specific surface area will Notes
be effective to further regenerate solvent and reduce the energy The authors declare no competing financial interest.

■
consumption.
Improved Direct Steam Stripping Process. One of the
main issues for the direct steam stripping process is the possible ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
pollution of the recovered steam. Owing to the evaporation of This work acknowledges much support from EDF researchers
the solvent, the gas mixture may contain some solvent in the and is financially supported by EDF, National Natural Science
gas phase after the stripper column, and thus the recovered Foundation (No. 51306161, 51276161), Natural Science
steam cannot be sent back to the steam turbine without prior Foundation of Zhejiang Province, China (No.
polishing. Hence, we propose an improved direct steam LY13E060004), the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral
stripping process as shown in Figure 10. Program of Higher Education of China (No.
The carrier gas is partially boiled (from 0.8 to 1 vapor 20130101120143), and the Program of Introducing Talents
fraction) through a heat exchanger by steam before being of Discipline to University (B08026)

■
compressed prior to being injecting into the stripper. The
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