CO₂ Capture by Absorption in Activated Aqueous Solutions of N,N-Diethylethanoloamine

The CO₂ absorption process using aqueous amine solutions has been the most promising technique used for the removal of CO₂ from gas streams in energy sector. In recent years, many researchers tested solutions which are composed of several compounds: a slow reacting tertiary amine- and a fast amine acting as an activator. In this paper, the CO₂ absorption rate in an aqueous solution of N,N-diethylethanoloamine (DEEA) and activated solutions DEEA is investigated experimentally. The activators considered are sterically hindered amines: 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP), 2-amino-2-methyl-1,3-propanediol (AMPD) and N-methyl-1,3-propanediamine (MAPA) from the group of polyamines. The experiments were conducted over the temperature range of 303-333 K and the total amine concentration of 2 M. From the CO₂ absorption experiments into mixed aqueous solutions of DEEA and MAPA, it was found that the addition of small amounts of MAPA into aqueous DEEA solutions has a significant effect on the enhancement of the CO₂ absorption rate. The application of hindered amines: AMP or AMP as activators resulted in a marginally improvement of the absorption rate of CO₂.