Simultaneous Absorption of H2S and Co2Into Aqueous Methyldiethanolamine

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Abstract
The tertiary araine methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) is finding increasing application as a chemical solvent for selective absorption of hydrogen sulfide from gases containing hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. Gas streams of this type include some natural gases, synthetic gases from coal and heavy oil gasification and tail gases from sulfur plants. Selectivity for H2S is needed either to enrich Glaus sulfur plant feed in H2S or to remove only H2S when CO2 removal is not necessary or economic. For the absorption of hydrogen sulfide into MDEA, the reaction which occurs can be considered to be instantaneous while carbon dioxide undergoes a second-order reaction with MDEA. In this work, the simultaneous absorption of two gases into a liquid containing a reactant with which both gases react is modelled using the film theory. Physical properties and kinetic rate parameters used in the model have been measured in our laboratory. The model is used to study the effect of process variables on the selectivity of MDEA for H2S over C02. The simultaneous absorption of H2S and CO2 gases into aqueous MDEA is studied experimentally using a continuous stirred tank absorber. Experimental absorption rates are compared to predictions based on a multicomponent mass transfer model. The average deviations of the theoretical calculations from the experimental results are 10.2% and 12.9% for C02 and H2S, respectively.