Title: Novel molecular integrated process model for biomethane upgradation by CO₂ capture with monoethanolamine

Authors: Neha Kumari Agarwal; Niloy Kundu; Supriya Sarkar

Addresses: Environment Research Group, Tata Steel R&D, Jamshedpur, India ' Environment Research Group, Tata Steel R&D, Jamshedpur, India ' Environment Research Group, Tata Steel R&D, Jamshedpur, India

Abstract: This work is aimed to develop a novel method for CO₂ capture leading to high calorific value renewable fuel generation. Monoethanolamine (MEA) is one of the most common solvents used for post combustion CO₂ capture from flue gas. However, substituting this solvent for biomethane upgradation requires the knowledge of the molecular chemistry involved. Therefore, to understand the interactions, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed. Further, a process model was developed in Aspen Plus for capturing CO₂ from biogas using MEA as solvent. To optimise the process various sensitivity analysis was performed with variation of number of absorber and stripper stages, distribution coefficient of CO₂ and methane in MEA, etc. Finally, an effective model was developed incorporating both the molecular chemistry of solvent as well as the process parameters to upgrade biomethane to be used as a renewable fuel along with sustainable waste management.

Keywords: CO₂ capture; monoethanolamine; MEA; biogas; Aspen Plus; density functional theory; DFT; biomethane.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGW.2022.122796

International Journal of Global Warming, 2022 Vol.27 No.1, pp.92 - 101

Received: 07 Sep 2021
Accepted: 16 Oct 2021
Published online: 11 May 2022 *

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