Absorber Models for absorption of Carbon dioxide from sour natural gas byMethyl-diethanol Amine (MDEA)

摘要

Mathematical models of the absorber for the absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2)from sour natural gas in Methyl-diethanol Amine (MDEA)solution were developed. The resulting ordinary differential model equations were solved numerically using theode45 solver of MATLAB 7.5. The accuracy of the models was ascertained using industrial plant data from the carbon dioxide absorber of the Obiafu/Obrikom Gas Treatment plant in Rivers State, Nigeria. The models predicted the CO₂ concentration in the sweet gas, gas and solvent (MDEA) temperature progressions along the packed absorber. The results obtained from solutions to the models compared favorably with the plant outputs with a maximum deviation between models predictions and industrial plant outputs of 0.44%. The models were used to simulate the influence of sour gas flow rates and solvent (MDEA) concentration in solution on the performance (absorption rates of CO₂) of the absorber.The results show that the absorption rate of CO₂ increases with increasing gas flow rate and solvent concentration.