International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 42 (2015) 117123

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International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijggc

Feasibility of carbon dioxide absorption by NaOH solution in a

rotating packed bed with blade packings
Chia-Chang Lin , Ching-Rong Chu
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The rotating packed bed (RPB) with blade packings was applied to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2 ) from gas
Received 5 January 2015 streams by NaOH solution. The RPB with blade packings had an inner radius of 1.6 cm, an outer radius
Received in revised form 10 July 2015 of 10.8 cm, and an axial height of 3.0 cm. Rotational speeds ranged from 600 to 1800 rpm, providing
Accepted 31 July 2015
25225 equiv. gravitational force. The removal efciency of CO2 was determined at various values of
operating parameters, including the rotational speed, gas ow rate, liquid ow rate, NaOH concentration,
Keywords:
and CO2 concentration. Experimental results demonstrated that the removal efciency of CO2 increased
Rotating packed bed
with the rotational speed, liquid ow rate and NaOH concentration; however, decreased with the gas
Blade packings
Absorption
ow rate and CO2 concentration. The removal efciency of CO2 was about 90% at a rotating speed of
Mass transfer 1800 rpm, a gas ow rate of 9 L/min, a liquid ow rate of 0.5 L/min, an NaOH concentration of 1.0 mol/L,
Carbon dioxide and a CO2 concentration of 1 vol%. Accordingly, the RPB with blade packings has great potential in the
removal of CO2 from the exhaust gases.
2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction liquid ows through the RPB, it is rapidly accelerated to an extent

Carbon dioxide (CO2 ), as a greenhouse gas, is the main contrib-
utor to the observed global warming and climate change (Ye et al.,
2012, 2013). Accordingly, it is imperative to remove huge amounts
of CO2 from the exhaust gases in many industrial processes such as
coal gasication, synthesis-gas production, natural-gas processing,
oil rening, and hydrogen manufacturing. Though the absorption
of CO2 using various absorbents and diverse contactors has been
developed for removing CO2 from the exhaust gases from these
industrial processes (Ye et al., 2012, 2013; Rodriguez-Flores et al.,
2013; Li et al., 2014; Khana et al., 2015; Ganapathy et al., 2014;
Freeman et al., 2010; Yang et al., 2015; Bandyopadhyay and Biswas,
2012; Ganapathy et al., 2013), the cost is still high for the treatment
of the exhaust gases from power generation plants owing to the fact
that a huge volume of the exhaust gas is needed to be treated and
low mass transfer exists in the traditional gasliquid contactors
such as packed columns, spray columns, and bubble columns.
Ramshaw and Mallinson (1981) were the rst to exploit a cen-
trifugal force as an external force to improve the efciency of
gasliquid separation. Accordingly, they developed the rotating
packed bed (RPB) for distillation and absorption. This unique tech-
nology is referred to as Higee (an acronym for high gravity). When
Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 3 2118800x5760; fax: +886 3 2118800x5702.
E-mail address: higee@mail.cgu.edu.tw (C.-C. Lin).
that is determined by the rotational speed, so the RPB is less likely
to ood than is a conventional packed bed. Accordingly, an RPB can
be operated at high gas or liquid ow rates. Also, packings with a
large specic area and a high voidage can be used. Since the cen-
trifugal acceleration is high, thinner lms and smaller droplets can
be formed. The mass transfer would be 10100 times greater than
that in a conventional packed bed, so the required equipment is
physically smaller, and the capital and operating costs are conse-
quently lower (Ramshaw, 1983). The RPB has been widely used
for various gasliquid processes, including distillation (Lin et al.,
2002), VOCs absorption (Chen and Liu, 2002), CO2 absorption (Lin
et al., 2003), O3 absorption (Lin et al., 2009a), ozonation (Lin and
Liu, 2003), reactive precipitation (Chen et al., 2000), and stripping
(Lin and Liu, 2006).
Over the last few years, our group successfully used the RPB
with blade packings to absorb volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
(Lin and Jian, 2007; Lin and Chien, 2008; Lin et al., 2009b, 2010;
Hsu and Lin, 2011, 2012; Lin and Lin, 2012), as presented in Fig. 1.
According to the results of these efforts, the RPB with blade pack-
ings has superior operating characteristics, including a low pressure
drop and a high mass transfer (Lin and Jian, 2007). We have pre-
sented more results concerning the RPB with blade packings for
removing VOCs by absorption (Lin and Jian, 2007; Lin and Chien,
2008; Lin et al., 2009b, 2010; Hsu and Lin, 2011, 2012; Lin and
Lin, 2012). The RPB with blade packings could effectively pro-
cess gas streams that contained VOCs, with a high mass transfer

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2015.07.035
1750-5836/ 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
118 C.-C. Lin, C.-R. Chu / International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 42 (2015) 117123
efciency. Recently, we used the RPB with blade packings to remove
VOCs from binary mixtures by absorption (Hsu and Lin, 2011, 2012).
However, the removal of CO2 in the RPB with blade packings has not
yet been reported. Accordingly, to develop an alternative gasliquid
contactor for removing CO2 from the exhaust gases, the objective
of this investigation is to elucidate the removal of CO2 from gas
streams by combining chemical absorption with the RPB with blade
packings. The NaOH solution is adopted as a model absorbent in this
investigation. The results in this investigation could provide further
insight into the feasibility of applying the RPB with blade packings
to the removal of CO2 from gas streams.
2. Experimental
The RPB with blade packings (as shown in Fig. 1) had an inner
radius of 1.6 cm, an outer radius of 10.8 cm, and an axial height of
3.0 cm. Accordingly, the depth (radial height) of the RPB was 9.2 cm.
The packings were made up of twelve blades arranged within the
RPB spaced 30 apart where gas and liquid were contacted counter-
currently. Each blade was covered with a stainless steel wire mesh
having a conguration of interconnected laments with a mean
diameter of 0.22 mm and an average mesh diameter of 3 mm. The
packings had a specic surface area of 65 m2 /m3 and a voidage of
0.994. In general operation, the RPB can be rotated from 600 to
1800 rpm, which provided 25225 times gravitational force based
on the arithmetic mean radius.
Fig. 2 shows the experimental setup for CO2 absorption. Dur-
ing normal operation, the CO2 N2 stream traveled inward from
the outer side of the rotor owing to the pressure drop. At the same
time, the prepared NaOH solution was introduced from the tank
into the inner side of the rotor through a distributor. The distrib-
utor consisted of a tube in which holes were drilled. Liquid left
the distributor at a relatively high velocity and, then, entered the
inner side of the rotor. The velocity of the liquid exiting from the
Fig. 1. RPB with blade packings.
Drain
CO2 Analyzer
Flowmeter
Blade Packings
CO2 Analyzer
Motor
NaOH Pump Flowmeter
CO2+N2
Fig. 2. Experimental setup for CO2 absorption.
distributor must be sufciently high to pass the gap between the
distributor and the inner side of the rotor. Otherwise, entrainment
may occur in the discharged gas stream and the liquid maldistribu-
tion would subsequently occur within the rotor. The NaOH solution
moved radially within the rotor owing to the centrifugal force and,
then, exited the rotor from the outer side. Both the CO2 N2 stream
and the NaOH solution were in contact with the countercurrent-
ow mode within the rotor, in which CO2 in the CO2 N2 stream
reacted with NaOH in the liquid stream. The exiting CO2 N2 stream,
containing low CO2 concentration, nally left the top of the rotor,
and, then, was discharged from the top of the RPB, while the CO2 -
rich NaOH solution was expelled from the bottom of the RPB.
The CO2 concentration in inlet CO2 N2 stream was varied at 1,
4, 7, and 10 vol% and the NaOH concentration in inlet liquid stream
was set at 0.2, 0.5, 0.7, and 1.0 mol/L. During operation, the gas
ow rate (axial direction) was varied at the range of 966 L/min
and the liquid ow rate (radial direction) was varied at the range of
0.20.5 L/min. The CO2 concentrations in inlet and outlet CO2 N2
streams were measured by an infrared (IR) CO2 analyzer (Polytron,
Drger).
The removal efciency of CO2 in the RPB with blade pakcings is
dened as
Ci Co
E (%) = 100 (1)
Ci
where E is the removal efciency of CO2 , and Ci and Co are the con-
centrations of CO2 in inlet and outlet CO2 N2 streams, respectively.
The E values were measured at various values of the operation
variables, including rotational speed (), gas ow rate (QG ), liquid
ow rate
 (QL ), NaOH concentration (CMEA ), and CO2 concentration
CCO2 to evaluate the performance of the RPB with blade packings
in absorbing CO2 using the NaOH absorbent. All experiments were
conducted at an average temperature of 25 C with atmospheric
pressure. During CO2 absorption, the CO2 concentration in outlet
CO2 N2 stream were observed to drop rapidly and then reached a
steady value within 1015 min. The reproducibility tests under all
of the operating conditions were carried out in this investigation.
The CO2 concentration in outlet CO2 N2 stream was observed to
be reproduced with a deviation of less than 5%.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Effect of rotational speed
Fig. 3 summarizes the E values as a function of the rotational
speed from 600 to 1800 rpm at a CO2 concentration of 1 vol%
and an NaOH concentration of 1.0 mol/L. As expected, increasing
the rotational speed enhanced the E values for a given gas ow
rate and liquid ow rate. For example, the E values for rotational
speeds of 600, 1000, 1400, and 1800 rpm were 73, 81, 88, and 90%,
respectively, at a gas ow rate of 9 L/min and a liquid ow rate
of 0.5 L/min. This result could be explained by the fact that the
centrifugal acceleration could provide thinner liquid lms and/or
tiny droplets; a thinner boundary layer for mass transfer would be
induced, thus leading to a higher gasliquid mass transfer according
to penetration theory. Similar trends were found in the absorption
of CO2 by the NaOH solution in the cross-ow RPB with struc-
tured packings (Lin and Chen, 2007) and the absorption of CO2 by
the MEA solution in the cross-ow RPB with structured packings
(Lin and Chen, 2011).
As shown in Fig. 3(a), at a low liquid ow of 0.2 L/min, E varied
x with the x values of 0.26 and 0.29 for the gas ow rate of 9 and
66 L/min, respectively. This observation implied that the effect of
the rotational speed at a low gas ow rate was close to that at a high
gas ow rate. This characteristic was not found at a high liquid ow
rate of 0.5 L/min, as shown in Fig. 3(b), indicating that the x value
 C.-C. Lin, C.-R. Chu / International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 42 (2015) 117123 119

(a) 100 (a) 100

QG : 9 L/min : 1800 rpm
QG : 66 L/min : 600 rpm

75
75
E (%)

50

E (%)
50

25

25

400 800 1200 1600 2000

0
Rotational Speed (rpm)
0 20 40 60 80
(b) 100
QG : 9 L/min
Gas Flow Rate (L/min)
QG : 66 L/min
(b) 100
75 : 1800 rpm

: 600 rpm
E (%)

50 75
E (%)

25 50

0
25
400 800 1200 1600 2000

Rotational Speed (rpm)

Fig. 3. Effect of rotational speed on removal efciency of CO2 (a) QL : 0.2 L/min (b) 0
QL : 0.5 L/min.
0 20 40 60 80
varied from 0.20 to 0.45 as the gas ow rate was increased from 9 to
66 L/min. This feature suggested that an increase of the E values by
Gas Flow Rate (L/min)
the rotational speed was more pronounced at a high gas ow rate.
Fig. 4. Effect of gas ow rate on removal efciency of CO2 (a) QL : 0.2 L/min (b) QL :
Accordingly, the rotational speed offered a largest effect on the E 0.5 L/min.
values at a liquid ow of 0.5 L/min and a gas ow of 66 L/min.

3.2. Effect of gas ow rate

Fig. 4 presents the effect of varying the gas ow rate from 9 to
66 L/min on the E values at a CO2 concentration of 1 vol% and an
NaOH concentration of 1.0 mol/L. The gas ow rate inuenced the
E values; that is, the E values decreased with the gas ow rate for
a given rotational speed and liquid ow rate. For example, the E
values for gas ow rates of 9, 28, 47, and 66 L/min were 90, 73, 58,
and 49%, respectively, at a rotational speed of 1800 rpm and a liq-
uid ow rate of 0.5 L/min. Owing to that an increasing gas ow rate
provided a larger amount of CO2 in the gas stream and a reduction
in the contact time, the removal of CO2 was limited at a high gas
ow rate. Similar trends were found in the absorption of CO2 by
the NaOH solution in the cross-ow RPB with structured packings
(Lin and Chen, 2007) and the absorption of CO2 by the MEA
solution in the cross-ow RPB with structured packings (Lin and
Chen, 2011).
As shown in Fig. 4(a), at a low liquid ow rate of 0.2 L/min, E was
proportional to QG y with the exponent y varying from 0.50 to 0.49
for the rotational speed from 600 to 1800 rpm. This feature implied
that at a low liquid ow rate, the sensitivity of E to variations in
the gas ow rate at a low rotational speed was the same as that
at a high rotational speed. As the liquid ow rate was increased to
0.5 L/min, this characteristic was not found, as shown in Fig. 4(b),
indicating that the y value varied from 0.43 to 0.30 when the rota-
tional speed was increased from 600 to 1800 rpm. Additionally, for
a given rotational speed, the sensitivity of the E values to variations
in the gas ow rate at a low liquid ow rate was higher than that
at a high liquid ow rate. Accordingly, the gas ow rate provided a
120 C.-C. Lin, C.-R. Chu / International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 42 (2015) 117123

(a) 100 Table 1

(QG /QL )95 under various operating conditions.

(rpm) QG (L/min) Logarithmic equation (QL )95 a (L/min) (QG /QL )95

600 9 E = 15 ln(QL ) + 83 2.2 4.1

600 66 E = 10 ln(QL ) + 36 365 0.2
75
1800 9 E = 13 ln(QL ) + 100 0.7 12.9
1800 66 E = 21 ln(QL ) + 63 4.6 14.3
a
The liquid ow rate required to achieve E = 95.
E (%)

50
NaOH solution in the cross-ow RPB with structured packings (Lin
and Chen, 2007) and the absorption of CO2 by the MEA solution in
the cross-ow RPB with structured packings (Lin and Chen, 2011).
As shown in Fig. 5(a), at a low gas ow rate of 9 L/min, E cor-
25
related QL z with the exponent z varying from 0.23 to 0.15 for the
rotational speed from 600 to 1800 rpm. This suggested that at a
: 1800 rpm low gas ow rate, the sensitivity of E to the variation in the liquid
: 600 rpm
ow at a low rotational speed was higher than that at a high rota-
0 tional speed. As the gas ow rate was increased to 66 L/min, this
phenomenon was opposite, as shown in Fig. 5(b), implying that
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 the z value varied from 0.39 to 0.55 when the rotational speed was
increased from 600 to 1800 rpm. Additionally, for a given rotational
Liquid Flow Rate (L/min) speed, the dependence of the E values on the liquid ow rate at
a high gas ow rate was higher than that at a low gas ow rate.
(b) 100 Accordingly, the liquid ow rate provided a largest effect on the
E values at a rotational speed of 1800 rpm and a gas ow rate of
66 L/min.
The results in Fig. 5 can be tted with the logarithmic equa-
75 tions indicated in Table 1. According to these equations, the liquid
ow rates required to achieve a CO2 removal of 95% were obtained
under various operating conditions, and the corresponding QG /QL
ratio was represented by (QG /QL )95 . As listed in Table 1, (QG /QL )95
E (%)

increased with the rotational speed for the same gas ow rate.
50
Additionally, (QG /QL )95 decreased with the gas ow rate at a low
rotational speed. However, as the rotational speed was increased
to 1800 rpm, (QG /QL )95 at a low gas rate was close to that at a
high gas ow. This result veried further that a high rotational
25 speed could improve the gasliquid mass transfer for CO2 absorp-
tion. However, it was known that the energy consumption would
: 1800 rpm be increased with an increasing rotational speed. Accordingly, the
optimum between the rotational speed and the removal efciency
: 600 rpm should be determined for industrial-scale applications.
0

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 3.4. Effect of NaOH concentration

Liquid Flow Rate (L/min)
Fig. 5. Effect of liquid ow rate on removal efciency of CO2 (a) QG : 9 L/min (b) QG :
66 L/min.
largest effect on the E values at a rotational speed of 600 rpm and a
liquid ow rate of 0.2 L/min.
3.3. Effect of liquid ow rate
Fig. 5 indicates the effect of the liquid ow rate ranging from
0.2 to 0.5 L/min on the E values at a CO2 concentration of 1 vol%
and an NaOH concentration of 1.0 mol/L. The liquid ow rate had
an inuence on the E values; that is, an increase in the liquid ow
rate yielded an increase in the E values for a given rotational speed
and gas ow rate. For example, the E values for liquid ow rates of
0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 L/min were 29, 42, 44, and 49%, respectively,
at a rotational speed of 1800 rpm and a gas ow rate of 66 L/min.
This behavior was attributed to the fact that more NaOH used to
absorb CO2 at a high liquid ow rate was favorable to the removal
of CO2 . Similar trends were found in the absorption of CO2 by the
Fig. 6 displays the E values as a function of the NaOH concentra-
tion from 0.2 to 1.0 mol/L at a rotational speed of 1800 rpm and a
CO2 concentration of 1 vol%. At a given gas ow rate and liquid ow
rate, the E values increased with an increasing NaOH concentration.
For example, the E values for NaOH concentrations of 0.2, 0.5, 0.7,
and 1.0 mol/L were 59, 72, 74, and 78%, respectively, at a gas ow
rate of 9 L/min and a liquid ow rate of 0.2 L/min. This characteristic
was caused by the fact that increasing NaOH concentration could
give higher amounts of hydroxide ions per unit volume for reacting
with more CO2 at a given gas ow rate and liquid ow rate. Similar
trends were found in the absorption of CO2 by the NaOH solution in
the cross-ow RPB with structured packings (Lin and Chen, 2007)
and the absorption of CO2 by the MEA solution in the cross-ow
RPB with structured packings (Lin and Chen, 2011).
As shown in Fig. 6(a), at a low gas ow rate of 9 L/min, the E
values were proportional to the NaOH concentration raised to the
w power. The w values decreased from 0.17 to 0.07 as the liquid ow
rate was increased from 0.2 to 0.5 L/min. This result suggested that
an enhancement of the E values by the NaOH concentration was
more pronounced at a low liquid ow rate. This nding was not
obvious at a high gas ow rate of 66 L/min, as shown in Fig. 6(b),
 C.-C. Lin, C.-R. Chu / International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 42 (2015) 117123 121

(a) 100 (a) 100

75 75
E (%)

E (%)
50 50

25 25

QL : 0.5 L/min QL : 0.5 L/min

QL : 0.2 L/min QL : 0.2 L/min

0 0

0.0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 0 3 6 9 12

CO2 Concentration (vol%)
NaOH Concentration (mol/L)
(b) 100
(b) 100

75
75
E (%)

50
E (%)

50

25
25
QL : 0.5 L/min
QL : 0.5 L/min QL : 0.2 L/min
QL : 0.2 L/min 0
0
0 3 6 9 12
0.0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2
CO2 Concentration (vol%)
NaOH Concentration (mol/L)
Fig. 7. Effect of CO2 concentration on removal efciency of CO2 (a) QG : 9 L/min (b)
Fig. 6. Effect of NaOH concentration on removal efciency of CO2 (a) QG : 9 L/min (b) QG : 66 L/min.
QG : 66 L/min.

showing that the w values decreased from 0.24 to 0.21 with the
increase in the liquid ow rate from 0.2 to 0.5 L/min. Additionally,
for a given liquid ow rate, the dependence of the E values on the
NaOH concentration at a high gas ow rate was higher than that at
a low gas ow rate. Accordingly, the NaOH concentration offered
a largest effect on the E values at a gas ow rate of 66 L/min and a
liquid ow rate of 0.2 L/min.
3.5. Effect of CO2 concentration
Fig. 7 shows the effect of the CO2 concentration from 1 to 10 vol%
on the E values at a rotational speed of 1800 rpm and an NaOH
concentration of 1.0 mol/L. At a given gas ow rate and liquid ow
rate, the E values decreased with an increasing CO2 concentration.
For example, the E values for CO2 concentrations of 1, 4, 7, and
10 vol% were 49, 45, 38, and 30%, respectively, at a gas ow rate
of 66 L/min and a liquid ow rate of 0.5 L/min. This nding was
explained by the fact that more CO2 was needed to be removed at
high CO2 concentrations for a given NaOH concentration. Similar
trend was found in the absorption of CO2 by the MEA solution in
the cross-ow RPB with structured packings (Lin and Chen, 2011).
As shown in Fig. 7(a), at a low gas ow rate of 9 L/min, the E
values were proportional to the CO2 concentration to the 0.02
power at the liquid ow rate of 0.5 L/min. This power would vary
to 0.08 at the liquid ow rate of 0.2 L/min. This feature implied
that a reduction of the E values by the CO2 concentration was more
evident at a low liquid ow rate. This observation was more obvious
at a high gas ow rate of 66 L/min, as shown in Fig. 7(b), revealing
that this power varied from 0.18 to 0.32 with the decrease in
the liquid ow rate from 0.5 to 0.2 L/min. Additionally, for a given
liquid ow rate, the sensitivity of the E values to variations in the
CO2 concentration at a high gas ow rate was much higher than that
122 C.-C. Lin, C.-R. Chu / International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 42 (2015) 117123

Table 2 removal efciency, E values. As expected, increasing the rotational

Comparison of RPB with structured packings and blade packings.
speed increased the E values. The E values appeared to increase
Lin et al. (2003) Present study with an increasing liquid ow rate and an increasing NaOH con-
Operating conditions centration but decrease with an increasing gas ow rate and an
Pressure (atm) 1 1 increasing CO2 concentration. Additionally, a high gas ow rate pro-
Temperature (K) 300 298 vided a decrease in (QG /QL )95 at a low rotational speed; however,
as the rotational speed was high, (QG /QL )95 was slightly affected
Gas phase
by the gas ow rate. Also, the rotational speed always provided
CO2 concentration (vol%) 1 1
Gas ow rate (L/min) 4.4 9 an increase in (QG /QL )95 for a given gas ow, indicating that the
Gas velocity (m/h) 38 62 RPB with blade packings could decrease the dosage of the NaOH
solution by increasing the rotational speed. The comparison of KG a
Liquid phase
between the RPB with blade packings and the RPB with struc-
NaOH concentration (mol/L) 0.2 0.2
Liquid ow rate (L/min) 0.042 0.2 tured packings indicated that the RPB with blade packings is an
Liquid velocity (m/h) 0.4 1.3 alternative gasliquid contactor for the CO2 removal from gas
streams.
RPB
Packing type Structured packings Blade packings
Inner radius (cm) 3.8 10.8 Acknowledgements
Outer radius (cm) 8.0 1.6
Axial length (cm) 2.0 3.0 The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Science
Specic surface area (m2 /m3 ) 803 65
Voidage () 0.96 0.994
and Technology of the Republic of China, Taiwan, for nancially
Rotational speed (rpm) 1735 1800 supporting this research under contract no. MOST 102-2221-E-
182-001-MY3.
KG a (1/s) 0.38 0.13

KG (cm/s) (based on specic surface area) 0.05 0.20 References

at a low gas ow rate. Accordingly, the CO2 concentration gave a
largest effect on the E values at a liquid ow rate of 0.2 L/min and a
gas ow rate of 66 L/min.
3.6. Comparison with RPB with structured packings
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blade packings with the RPB with structured packings, the mass
transfer coefcient is considered a simple but representative design
parameter. For CO2 absorption process, the experimental overall
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QG
C 
KG a =   ln i
(2)
 Ro Ri2 2
Zb Co
where QG is the volumetric ow rate of gas, Zb is the axial length of
the RPB, Ri and Ro are the inner and outer radii of the RPB, respec-
tively. Ci and Co are the concentrations of CO2 in the inlet and outlet
CO2 N2 streams, respectively. The estimated KG a value in the RPB
with blade packings was compared to the reported KG a value in
the RPB with structure packings when the NaOH solution was used
as the absorbent. As shown in Table 2, the KG a value in the RPB
with blade packings was much lower than that in the RPB with
structured packings. With the assumption that the effective sur-
face area is equal to the specic surface area, the KG value in the
RPB with blade packings was much higher than that in the RPB with
structured packings. This result is attributable to the fact the spe-
cic surface area in the RPB with blade packings was much lower
than in the RPB with structured packings. Accordingly, a higher KG a
value of the RPB with blade packings could be obtained as the spe-
cic surface area would be increased to 803 m2 /m3 by adding the
number of blades. Accordingly, the RPB with blade packings shows
its applicability in removing CO2 from gas streams.
4. Conclusions
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