How does ProTreat account for chemical reaction kinetics?
Chemical reaction kinetics pertains specifically to the reaction between CO2 and the amine (or amines in blended or promoted solvents). The CO2 transfer rate (absorption/stripping) is controlled primarily by resistance in the liquid phase; in other words, by the liquid-side mass transfer coefficient. The CO2 has to diffuse through a thin, resisting, mass-transfer film in the liquid at the gas-liquid interface (thinner than the thickness of the liquid film flowing over packing, for example). This free (unreacted) CO2 can have its concentration greatly reduced (absorption) or increased (stripping) by the reaction. In effect, reaction thins the mass transfer film, and thereby lowers its resistance. This is quantified by a so-called enhancement factor. We hasten to emphasize that this enhancement factor is definitely not an empirical correction parameter. Quite the contrary—it comes from solving the reaction-diffusion equations that describe chemically-reactive mass transfer at the mechani
