Study on Properties of Hydrophilic Modified Polypropylene Regular Filler by Melt Blending in Carbon Dioxide Capture Tower

ObjectivesAt present, most amine based CO2 capture systems for flue gas use stainless steel filled towers. In order to significantly reduce the cost of filled towers, this paper proposes the use of polypropylene structured filler instead of high cost stainless steel structured filler, thereby reducing the investment cost of absorption towers in CO2 capture systems after combustion.MethodsUsing plastic fillers instead of stainless steel fillers, the selected polypropylene material and 30% mass fraction of polypropylene grafted maleic anhydride (PP-g-MAH) particles are mixed, and then they are melt blended to form regular fillers. On the constructed testing platform for fluid dynamics and mass transfer performance of fillers, different filler properties are tested.ResultsThe dry tower pressure drop of regular fillers of 410Y and 350Y modified by melt blending of polypropylene and polypropylene grafted maleic anhydride is similar to that of stainless steel 500Y. The effective specific surface area of modified polypropylene filler 350Y is close to that of stainless steel filler 350Y with the same nominal specific surface area. Under liquid-phase loading conditions in the CO2 amine reaction absorption tower, the effective specific surface area of polypropylene filler of 350Y is about 90% of that of stainless steel filler of 350Y.ConclusionsThe modified polypropylene filler has similar performance to stainless steel filler and can replace stainless steel filler in practical applications, significantly reducing the investment cost of absorption towers in CO2 capture systems.