Carbon Dioxide Absorption Modeling for Off-Gas Treatment in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Abstract

The absorption of carbon dioxide is an important process in many practical applications such as reduction of greenhouse gases, separation and purification processes in the chemical and petroleum industries, and capture of radioactive isotopes in the nuclear fuel cycle The goal of this research is to develop a dynamic model to simulate CO2 absorption by using different alkanolamines as absorption solvents. The model is based upon transient mass and energy balances for the chemical species commonly present in CO2 gas-liquid absorption. A computer code has been written to implement the proposed model. Simulation results are discussed. The reported model simulates well the response to dynamic changes in input conditions. The proposed model can be used to optimize and control the separation of carbon-14 in the form of CO2 in the nuclear industry.