Influence of additives including amine and hydroxyl groups on aqueous ammonia absorbent for CO2 capture

Abstract

Aqueous ammonia absorbent (10 wt %) was modified with four kinds of additives (I wt %) including amine and hydroxyl groups, i.e., 2-amino-2-methyl-l-propanol (AMP), 2-amino-2-methyl-1,3-propandiol (AMPD), 2-amino-2-ethyl-1,3-propandiol (AEPD), and tri(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane (THAM), for CO2 capture. The loss of ammonia by vaporization was reduced by additives, whereas the removal efficiency of CO2 was slightly improved. These results were attributed to the interactions between ammonia and additives or absorbents and CO2 via hydrogen bonding, as verified by FT-IR spectra and computational calculation. Molecular structures as well as binding energies were obtained from the geometries of (ammonia + additives) and (ammonia + additives + CO2) at the optimized state. These experimental and theoretical findings demonstrate that additives including amine and hydroxyl group are suitable for modifying aqueous ammonia absorbent for CO2 removal.