ENG. ANDREW OMWENGA
Chemical & Process Simulation Engineer • Thermodynamic Specialist
CO2 Capture & MEA Regeneration System
Section 1.0 — Simulation & Facility Metadata
Section 2.0 — Executive Summary
Modeling an industrial post-combustion carbon capture process using 30 wt% aqueous monoethanolamine (MEA) solvent with 98.25% post-flash recovery.
Section 3.0 — Problem Statement & Operating Bottlenecks
Capturing dilute CO2 from power plant flue gas (12 mol% CO2) using aqueous MEA solvent while optimizing stripper reboiler energy consumption.
Section 4.0 — Objectives & Rigorous Simulation Methodology
Rate-based column modeling using Electrolyte-NRTL thermodynamics in Aspen Plus. Validated against pilot plant data from the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC).
Section 5.0 — Simulation Results & Thermodynamic Findings
Optimizing the rich/lean exchanger temperature approach to 5 °C reduced reboiler duty by 14.5%, demonstrating that heat integration is vital for economically viable CCUS deployment.
Section 6.0 — Core Engineering Takeaways
Section 7.0 — Model Assumptions & Future Recommendations
Amine degradation (thermal and oxidative) was omitted from steady-state vapor-liquid equilibrium balances.
Screening piperazine-promoted MDEA blends to further drop reboiler energy below 3.0 GJ/ton CO2.
Section 8.0 — Consultant Conclusion & Verification Sign-off
Chemical absorption via MEA remains effective for industrial flue gas, provided reboiler heat integration is strictly optimized.
