Investigation of intercooling effect in CO2 capture energy consumption

Abstract The aqueous absorption technology is one of the most feasible options for post combustion CO 2 capture. High energy requirement is the main problem for this technology. Intercooling is possibly one of the strategies that can reduce the energy consumption in some cases. It is used in other industries like oil refineries and has a promising effect on energy use reduction. However, the effect may depend on the absorbent system used and the configuration of the process. In this study, the effect of intercooling is investigated for monoethanolamine (MEA) and diethanolamine (DEA). The results show that the best location for intercooling, based on minimizing energy requirement per kg of CO 2 captured is about 1/4th to 1/5th of the height of the column from the bottom. The effect of different parameters like lean loading, amine concentration, cooling temperature, etc is investigated in this study. The results for MEA and DEA are compared to see the effect of solvent on intercooling performance.