(71b) High Performance, Bio-Derived Solvents for Pre-Combustion Capture

While Selexol/DMPEG is a well-established process/solvent for CO2 removal in applications such as natural gas processing and syngas purification, and is expected to be a leading candidate for pre-combustion CO2 capture applications, the viscosity of DMPEG is several times that of water. As such, DMPEG may face challenges when used within hollow fiber membrane contactors (HFMCs) and other advanced devices designed to promote high mass transfer rates. Recently, we have developed new types of physical solvents from bio-derived sources that exhibit much lower viscosities than DMPEG, low volatility and have a greater absorption capacity for CO2 at given temperature and pressure conditions. As such, this class of solvents appears highly promising for further scale up and demonstration projects. This presentation will discuss solvent production, physical property characterizations, molecular simulation and process modeling.