Kinetics of absorption of carbon dioxide in aqueous MDEA solutions with carbonic anhydrase at 298 K

Nathalie J. M. C. Penders-van Elk*, Peter W. J. Derks, Sylvie Fradette, Geert F. Versteeg

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

77 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In present work the absorption of carbon dioxide in aqueous N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) solutions with and without the enzyme carbonic anhydrase has been studied in a stirred cell at 298 K, with MDEA concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 4 kmol m(-3) and carbonic anhydrase concentrations ranging from 0 to 2275 g m(-3), respectively. The obtained experimental results show that carbonic anhydrase significantly enhances the absorption of carbon dioxide in aqueous MDEA solution. When the enzyme is present in the absorption solution, MDEA concentration does not materially influence on the absorption rate. Therefore, the enzyme does not enhance the reaction of CO2 with MDEA, since the rate of this reaction is a function of the MDEA concentration. Rather, the enzyme enhances the reaction of carbon dioxide with water. In the presence of enzyme this reaction is not only first order in CO2, but also first order in water. Thus, carbonic anhydrase may provide a solution for the efficient capture of carbon dioxide from flue gases by significantly increasing the kinetics of its absorption in MDEA, a tertiary amine which requires less energy for regeneration than monoethanolamine (MEA), the current industry benchmark. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)385-392
Number of pages8
JournalInternational Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul-2012

Keywords

  • Carbon dioxide capture
  • Carbonic anhydrase
  • MDEA
  • Kinetics
  • N-METHYLDIETHANOLAMINE
  • NONAQUEOUS SOLUTIONS
  • TERTIARY-AMINES
  • MASS-TRANSFER
  • CO2
  • WATER
  • MONOETHANOLAMINE
  • DIETHANOLAMINE
  • ALKANOLAMINES
  • DIFFUSIVITY

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