Pressure drop and mass transfer of a high capacity random packing. Application to CO2 post-combustion capture

AbstractPressure drop and interfacial area have been measured for a modern high capacity random packing. Pressure drop and flooding limit are found to be in good agreement with the manufacturer software. It is observed that the interfacial area, ae, is linked to the flooding percentage and can be much higher than the geometric area. However ae depends slightly on the chemical system, this can be explained by gas limitation. The selected packing seems to be well adapted for CO2 capture process, since pressure drop is low and interfacial area is high. Present results have been used successfully to model the CASTOR pilot plant for post-combustion CO2 capture