Absorption of CO2 by Aqueous MEA in Packed Column

When CO2 is being absorbed and reacts with aqueous MEA solutions, the following reactions are taking place  

Letter B denotes the group HOCH2.CH2 and step (Rl) represents the physical absorption of CO2 by water, accompanied by the heat of solution H - At very short time of exposure in industrial practice, the effect of reaction (R3) can be neglected, and only reaction (R2) affects the absorption rate of CO2. Reaction (R2) can be 

Reaction (R4) can be considered as second order, which is the rate-controlling step, because reaction (R5) is a proton-transfer reaction and virtually instantaneous. Therefore, the absorption of CO2 in MEA solutions can be regarded as gas absorption accompanied by a second-order reaction, and the overall reaction is represented by reaction (R2). The rate of reaction Rc can be expressed by the following equation  

The source terms Fls and Flg in as well as have been given in Sect 4.2.1. 

The source term 5m(Kg m s ) represents the rate of CO2 absorbed by the liquid phase, which can be calculated by the following mass transfer equation  

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