Study on the Kinetics of Dissolution and Reversible Hydration of Carbon Dioxide in Aqueous Solutions

Date
2016-02-04
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Abstract
Microalgal CO2 fixation is an emerging technology for abating CO2 emissions. Microalgal cultures productivity is limited by CO2 transfer rates, as CO2 has low solubility in water and its dissolution is kinetically impaired. Scrubbing and hydration of CO2 into bicarbonate solution prior to feeding the cultures has been proposed to increase CO2 availability. The hydration reaction is the rate-limiting step in the CO2 dissolution process. Experiments were performed to test carbonic anhydrase (CA) and metal (oxide) nanoparticles (MNPs) as catalysts by measuring pH and conductivity changes. A model was developed to predict the reaction process over time and compared to experimental measurements. No catalytic activity was observed for MNPs under all experimental conditions evaluated. Although CA has significant catalytic activity, the mechanism controlling the reaction rate was found (experimentally and numerically) to be mass transfer limitation. Changes in reactor geometry and gas distribution were proved effective to mitigate this limitation.
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Engineering--Chemical
Citation
Zhou, M. (2016). Study on the Kinetics of Dissolution and Reversible Hydration of Carbon Dioxide in Aqueous Solutions (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27923