The objective of this work was to develop a compact decarbonation system for a confined space and to evaluate the post-combustion capture performance of selected solvents: MEA (Monoethanolamine), MDEA (N-methyl-diethanolamine) and K2CO3 (potassium carbonate). Dimensioning of the absorption columns for each solvent was performed by integrating the appropriate kinetic schemes into Aspen Plus™ in order to proceed with a detailed optimization of the decarbonation system, especially in terms of CO2 percentage, energy requirements and system compactness. The results have shown that high solvent flow rates lead to energy overconsumption and low lean loading rates lead to high power consumption. In consequence, the CO2 capture method using a high lean loading rate appears to be the best solution. The concentration of the solvent at the outlet of the washing column has shown to be negligible. From a system efficiency point of view, the MEA seems to be the best solution for a decarbonation system in the case of a confined space.
