Determination of Mass-Transfer Coecient of CO

2
in NH
3
and CO
2
Absorption by Materials Balance in a Rotating Packed Bed
Baochang Sun,
,
Haikui Zou,*
,
Guangwen Chu,*
,,
Lei Shao,
,
Zequan Zeng,
,
and Jianfeng Chen
,

Research Center of the Ministry of Education for High Gravity Engineering and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical
Technology, Beijing 100029, Peoples Republic of China

State Key Laboratory of OrganicInorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, Peoples
Republic of China
ABSTRACT: More-accurate overall mass-transfer coecients in a rotating packed bed (RPB) and local mass-transfer
coecients in dierent regions of the RPB were deduced by the material balance in order to obtain practical volumetric mass-
transfer coecients in the RPB. Experimental studies on the overall volumetric mass-transfer coecients (K
G
a) of CO
2
in NH
3
and CO
2
absorption into water in the RPB was carried out under dierent conditions. The experimental results indicated that
there was a great dierence between the value of K
G
a and K
G
a* attained by dierent boundary conditions. And it was concluded
that an accurate design equation should be adopted to achieve a practical value of K
G
a in the RPB. It was also found that the K
G
a
of CO
2
increased with the increase of rotation speed, liquid volumetric ow rate, gas volumetric ow rate, NH
3
/CO
2
molar ratio,
and the decrease of temperature. The K
G
a of CO
2
in the simultaneous absorption process of NH
3
and CO
2
was 26 times higher
than that in the single CO
2
absorption process.
1. INTRODUCTION
A rotating packed bed (RPB) consists mainly of a packed rotor.
Because of the high-gravity environment created by the rotation
of the packed rotor, mass transfer and micromixing can be
signicantly intensied in the RPB. Ramshaw and Mallinson
1
rst reported that RPBs can greatly enhance the eciency of
distillation and absorption. It was also reported that the liquid-
side mass transfer rate in an RPB was notably higher than that
in a conventional packed bed.
2,3
Because of the advantages in mass transfer and mixing, the
RPB has been employed as a promising reactor for absorption,
4
distillation,
5
ozonation,
6
polymerization,
7
devolatilization,
8
and
production of nanomaterials.
9
Fundamental studies on RPBs
have been extensively reported. Cheng and Tan
10
reported the
removal of CO
2
from indoor air by alkanolamine in an RPB. An
algebraic model was proposed to predicted the overall
volumetric mass-transfer coecient (K
G
a) in the RPB by
assuming stirred tanks connected in series followed by a gas
liquid contactor t in the outer region of the RPB, and it was
found that the mass-transfer rate in the outer region is dierent
from that in the packing itself. Lin and Chen
11
studied pressure
drop and mass transfer in a cross-ow RPB by CO
2
absorption
from gas stream. The comparison of K
G
a between the cross-
ow RPB and a countercurrent RPB was also conducted, and it
was found that the mass-transfer eciency of the cross-ow
RPB was comparable to that of the countercurrent-ow RPB.
Sandilya et al.
12
presented experimental studies on gas-side
mass transfer in an RPB with wire-gauze packing and reported
the average gas-side volumetric mass-transfer coecient of SO
2
in the RPB. Lin et al.
13
studied the K
G
a of CO
2
in an RPB with
dierent absorbents and operating conditions. It was found that
the mass-transfer rate in an RPB was an order of magnitude
higher than that in a packed tower. Many studies on the
modeling of mass transfer in RPBs have also been carried out in
an attempt to obtain a precise mass-transfer coecient. The
validation data for the mass-transfer coecient must reect the
practical value of the mass-transfer coecient. Otherwise, the
correlation of the mass-transfer coecient would lose its
signicance. Therefore, whether it is for fundamental research
or for the design of an RPB, an accurate design equation for the
calculation of mass-transfer coecient is indispensable.
The mass-transfer coecient in an RPB is mainly obtained
by material balance in the RPB from experiments. Sandilya et
al.
14
have performed experiments in a centrifugal contactor to
obtain the gas-side mass-transfer coecient and to examine the
eect of rotation and packing on the gas ow and the transfer
coecient. Kelleher and Fair
15
calculated volumetric mass-
transfer coecients by writing a material balance over a
dierential volume of the RPB. The similar material balance for
mass-transfer coecient has also been adopted by other
researchers.
10,11,16,17
In the literature, the same design equation for an RPB was
used, and the boundary conditions adopted in the design
equation for the RPB were
= =
= =
= =
= =

x x r r
x x r r
y y r r
y y r r
,
,
and
,
,
i i
o o
o
i
i
o
(1)
In the boundary conditions, the volume integral path of the
RPB is from r
o
to r
i
, but the material concentrations used in the
design equation are inlet and outlet concentrations, which do
not correspond to the volume integral path. Therefore, the
obtained mass-transfer coecient cannot be regarded as the
Received: December 20, 2011
Revised: May 1, 2012
Accepted: July 6, 2012
Published: July 6, 2012
Article
pubs.acs.org/IECR
2012 American Chemical Society 10949 dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie202983x | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2012, 51, 1094910954
mass transfer in the entire RPB (where the volume integral path
of the RPB should be from r = 0 to r = r
c
).
Because the K
G
a values are attained by the material
concentrations at the inlet and outlet of the RPB, the
corresponding integral path should be from the inlet to the
outlet of the RPB. In addition, to obtain the mass transfer in the
entire RPB, the volume integral path of the RPB should be
from r = 0 to r = r
c
. Therefore, as shown in Figure 1, the
practical boundary conditions should be
= =
= =
= =
= =

x x r
x x r r
y y r
y y r r
, 0
,
and
, 0
,
i
o c
o
i
c
(2)
With the practical boundary conditions, a precise mass-
transfer coecient can be obtained directly from the design
equation of the RPB, which is signicant for the evaluation of
the mass-transfer eciency of the RPB. However, the design
equation adopted to determine the experimental K
G
a* values in
the literature was cited from Kelleher and Fairs work,
15
which
was based on the boundary conditions, as expressed in eq 1 and
left room for improvement.
In this work, the practical mass-transfer coecients in an
RPB and local mass-transfer coecients in dierent regions of
the RPB were deduced by the material balance. The practical
K
G
a of CO
2
during simultaneous absorption of NH
3
and CO
2
and single absorption of CO
2
into water in the RPB were
investigated. The dierence between K
G
a and K
G
a*, as well as
K
G
a and K
G
a
S
was analyzed (K
G
a is the mass-transfer
coecients of CO
2
in the simultaneous absorption process
obtained by the practical design equation; K
G
a* is that obtained
by the design equation in the literature; K
G
a
S
is that obtained in
single CO
2
absorption process).
2. DEDUCING THE MASS-TRANSFER COEFFICIENT IN
A ROTATING PACKED BED
The mass-transfer coecient obtained by material balance in an
RPB is used to evaluate the precise value of the mass-transfer
coecient. The diagram of the integral path for the material
balance in the RPB is shown in Figure 1.
It has been proved that:
18
(a) liquid residence times are very
short in an RPB and the back-mixing of liquid can be ignored;
and (b) the maximum pressure drop in a wet bed in the RPB is
300 Pa, compared to the experimental pressure (200 kPa),
and the maximum radial pressure dierence is <0.15%, so gas
ow in an RPB can be regarded as a straight-ow gas stream.
Therefore, it is assumed that the volume ows of gas and liquid
over the radial length of the RPB are constant.
The phase equilibrium equation of the absorption system is
* = y mx (3)
* = x
y
m
(4)
As shown in Figure 1, the solute concentration can be
obtained from the material balance of the solute at radius r in
the RPB:
= G y y L x x ( ) ( )
r
r (5)
The mole fraction of the solute in liquid stream then can be
obtained,
= + x y y
G
L
x ( )
r
r
(6)
and the mole fraction of the solute in the gas stream can be
written as
= + y x x
L
G
y ( )
r
r
(7)
The solution of eq 6 to eq 3 is
* = = +

y mx m y y
G
L
x ( )
r
r
(8)
The solution of eq 7 to eq 4 is
* = = +

x
y
m m
x x
L
G
y
1
( )
r
r
(9)
The following rate equation can be obtained in terms of a
material balance calculation over a dierential volume of the
RPB for both the liquid and gas phases:
= = * N a
Lx
V
K a x x
d( )
d
( )
A L
(10)
= = * N a
Gy
V
K a y y
d( )
d
( )
A G
(11)
= V rh r d 2 d
(12)
The contact between liquid and gas occurred not only in the
packing, but also in the hollow central region of the RPB and
the space between the casing and the rotator. Because the K
G
a
values were attained by the inlet and outlet gas/liquid
concentrations in the RPB as discussed in section 1, the
boundary conditions should correspond to the practical path of
integration, which must include the distance from the center of
the RPB to the inner wall of the casing. In other words, in
addition to the gasliquid mass transfer in the packing, there is
also gasliquid mass transfer in the hollow central region of the
RPB and the space between the casing and the packing in the
RPB. Therefore, to obtain the mass-transfer coecient of the
RPB, the practical boundary conditions for eq 10 should be
= =
= =
= =
= =
x x r
x x r r
y y r r
y y r
( 0)
( )
and
( )
( 0)
i
o c
i
c
o (13)
while the boundary conditions in the literature were
= =
= =
= =
= =

x x r r
x x r r
y y r r
y y r r
,
,
and
,
,
i i
o o
o
i
i
o
(14)
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the integral path for the material
balance in a rotating packed bed (RPB).
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie202983x | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2012, 51, 1094910954 10950
To obtain the mass-transfer coecient in the hollow central
region of the RPB, the volume integral path should be from r =
0 to r = r
i
; to obtain the mass-transfer coecient in the packing,
the volume integral path should be from r = r
i
to r = r
o
; to
obtain the mass-transfer coecient in the space between the
casing and the rotator, the volume integral path should be from
r = r
o
to r = r
c
. The material concentrations integral paths are
corresponding to the volume integral paths. The solutions of
the dierent boundary conditions in the RPB to eqs 10 and 11
are shown in Table 1.
The accurate determination of x
i
, y
i
, x
r
i
, y
r
i
, x
r
o
, y
r
o
, x
o
and y
o
by
experimental method is important for the design equation of an
RPB. To obtain the more-accurate values of x
i
, y
i
, x
r
i
, y
r
i
, x
r
o
, y
r
o
,
x
o
, and y
o
, samples must be taken in the appropriate point along
the packing radius of the RPB for multiple times at the same
operating point. The main use of the mass-transfer coecient
obtained from the boundary solution is to achieve the precise
Table 1. Mass-Transfer Coecients in the RPB
boundary
conditions mass-transfer coecients remarks
= =
= =

x x r
x x r r
( 0)
( )
i
o c
=

+

( )
K a ln
L
hr L mG
L G m x L G x y
y mx
L
1
[ / ( )] 1
[( / ) ] /
c
2
o i o
o i
overall volumetric mass-transfer coecient of liquid phase in the RPB,
obtained by eq 13
= =
= =

x x r r
x x r r
,
,
i i
o o
* =

+

( )
K a ln
L
h r r L mG
L G m x L G x y
y mx
L
( )
1
[ / ( )] 1
(( / ) ) /
o
2
i
2
o i o
o i
overall volumetric mass-transfer coecient of liquid phase in the RPB,
obtained by eq 14
= =
= =

y y r r
y y r
( )
( 0)
i
c
o
=

+

( )
K a ln
G
hr mG L
mG L y mG L y mx
y mx
G
1
1 ( / )
[1 ( / )] /
c
2
i o i
o i
overall volumetric mass-transfer coecient of gas phase in the RPB,
obtained by eq 13
= =
= =

y y r r
y y r r
,
,
o
i
i
o
* =

+

( )
K a ln
G
h r r mG L
mG L y mG L y mx
y mx
G
( )
1
1 ( / )
[1 ( / )] /
o
2
i
2
i o i
o i
overall volumetric mass-transfer coecient of gas phase in the RPB,
obtained by eq 14
= =
= =

x x r r
x x r
,
, 0
r i
i
i
=

+

( )
K a ln
L
hr L mG
L G m x L G x y
y mx
L
E 1
[ / ( )] 1
[( / ) ] /
i
2
r
i
i o
o i
volumetric mass-transfer coecient of liquid phase in the hollow central
region of the RPB
= =
= =

y y r r
y y r
,
, 0
r
i
i
i
=

+

( )
K a ln
G
hr mG L
mG L y mG L y mx
y mx
G
E 1
1 ( / )
[1 ( / )] /
i
2
r
i
o i
o i
volumetric mass-transfer coecient of gas phase in the hollow central region
of the RPB
= =
= =

x x r r
x x r r
,
,
r
r
o
i
o
i
=

+

K a ln
L
h r r L mG
L G m x L G x y
y mx
L
P
( )
1
[ / ( )] 1
[( / ) ] ( / )
o
2
i
2
r
o
r
i r
i
r
i
r
i
volumetric mass-transfer coecient of liquid phase in the packing of the
RPB
= =
= =

y y r r
y y r r
,
,
r
r
o
i
o
i
=

+

( )
K a ln
G
h r r mG L
mG L y mG L y mx
y mx
G
P
( )
1
1 ( / )
[1 ( / )] /
o
2
i
2
r
o
r
i
r
i
r
i
r
i
volumetric mass-transfer coecient of gas phase in the packing of the RPB
= =
= =

x x r r
x x r r
,
,
r
o c
o
o
=

+

( )
K a ln
L
h r r L mG
L G mx L G x y
y mx
L
C
( )
1
/ ( ) 1
( / ) /
c
2
o
2
o r
o r
o
r
o
r
o
volumetric mass-transfer coecient of liquid phase in the space between the
casing and the rotator of the RPB
= =
= =

y y r r
y y r r
,
,
r
i
c
o
o
=

+

( )
K a ln
G
h r r mG L
mG L y mG L y mx
y mx
G
C
( )
1
1 ( / )
[1 ( / )] /
c
2
o
2
i r
o
r
o
r
o
r
o
volumetric mass-transfer coecient of liquid phase in the space between the
casing and the rotator of the RPB
Figure 2. Experimental setup for absorption of CO
2
and NH
3
in an RPB.
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie202983x | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2012, 51, 1094910954 10951
value of the mass-transfer coecient in the RPB and serve as
the basis for the correlation of mass-transfer coecient. For
special occasions, the precise mass-transfer coecient in a
certain region of the RPB can be obtained by the corresponding
boundary conditions.
3. EXPERIMENTAL SECTION
The chemistry of the simultaneous absorption of CO
2
and NH
3
in water has been studied by Faurholt and Pinsent.
19,20
For the
high solubility of NH
3
and the relatively lower solubility of CO
2
in water, the concentration of NH
3
in water is higher than that
of CO
2
. The reaction between NH
3
and CO
2
in water can thus
be written as follows:
+ = +
+
CO 2NH NH NH COO
2 3 4 2
(28)
The reaction between NH
3
and CO
2
in water has been proved
to be fast and a pseudo-rst-order reaction, and CO
2
will be
completely consumed at the gas/liquid interface for the lower
solubility of CO
2
, relative to NH
3
.
21
The simultaneous
absorption process of NH
3
and CO
2
is thus controlled by the
absorption of CO
2
, so the K
G
a of NH
3
and CO
2
can be
evaluated by the K
G
a of CO
2
in this study. The K
G
a of CO
2
can
be obtained by mass balance of CO
2
in the simultaneous
absorption of NH
3
and CO
2
into water in an RPB.
The schematic diagram of the experimental apparatus for the
simultaneous absorption of NH
3
and CO
2
is shown in Figure 2.
Water was pumped into the RPB via a liquid distributor and
owed radially outward through the packing under the
centrifugal force, while the mixed gas stream of NH
3
, CO
2
,
and N
2
was introduced into the RPB from the gas inlet of the
RPB under pressure (inlet pressure = 0.2 MPa) and owed
inward through the packing, where the gas and water streams
contacted countercurrently. In this process, CO
2
and NH
3
were
absorbed and reacted in water before the gas and liquid streams
exited the RPB from the gas outlet and liquid outlet,
respectively.
The stainless wire mesh purchased from Beijing Hongyahong
Mesh Sale Center, China was used as the packing materials.
The packing of the RPB had an inner radius of 4 cm, an outer
radius of 10 cm, and a height of 12 cm, with a specic surface
area of 522 m
2
/m
3
and a voidage of 0.97. The total volume of
the rotator was 317 cm
3
. The inner radius of the RPB casing
was 15 cm, and the axial length of the RPB was 13 cm.
Concentrations of NH
3
and CO
2
were measured by a gas
analyzer (GDYS-101SA, Xiaotiane Instrument Co., Ltd.,
China) and an infrared gas analyzer (GXH-3010F, Huayun
Analytical Instrument Institution, China), respectively. Experi-
ments were carried out under the following operating
conditions: gas volumetric ow, 16002900 L/h; liquid
volumetric ow, 60600 m
3
/h; rotation speed, 4001500
rpm; and ambient pressure. The absorption process quickly
reached a steady state within a few minutes in all of the runs. In
the absorption process, N
2
accounts for most of the mixture
gas. The absorption of N
2
in water is negligible, and the change
of N
2
ow can be ignored. Therefore, the concentration of
CO
2
, relative to N
2
, was used for the calculation of K
G
a in this
study.
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Figure 3 is a plot of K
G
a versus the rotation speed. It can be
seen that the K
G
a value increased with an increase in rotation
speed range from 400 rpm to 1500 rpm. As the rotation speed
increases, a larger gasliquid contact area, a higher mixing
eciency, and a faster renewal rate of the gas/liquid interface
result, because of a stronger high-gravity environment, causing
a higher K
G
a. It can also be found that the change of the overall
volumetric mass-transfer coecient of CO
2
in the single CO
2
absorption (K
G
a
S
) in the RPB exhibited the same tendency as
that in the simultaneous absorption process. As a result of the
reaction between CO
2
and NH
3
into water in the RPB, the
absorption of CO
2
has been intensied in the simultaneous
absorption process. Therefore, the value of K
G
a was 3 times
higher than K
G
a
S
.
Figure 4 is a plot of K
G
a on the liquid volumetric ow rate. It
can be seen that the K
G
a and K
G
a
S
values increased as the liquid
volumetric ow increased from 60 L/h to 600 L/h. The
increase in liquid volumetric ow rate causes a lower
concentration in liquid, providing a higher mass-transfer
impetus, and reduces the liquid-side mass-transfer resistance
and leads to the increase of K
G
a and K
G
a
S
. It is also found that
the value of K
G
a is 26 times higher than the K
G
a
S
value.
Figure 5 is a plot of K
G
a on the gas volumetric ow rate. It is
shown that the K
G
a value increased as the gas volumetric ow
increased from 1600 L/h to 2900 L/h. For the relatively very
high solubility of ammonia in water, a higher gas volumetric
ow rate leads to a higher NH
3
concentration in water and
consequently enhances the reaction between NH
3
and CO
2
and
Figure 3. Eect of rotation speed on K
G
a in an RPB.
Figure 4. Eect of liquid volumetric ow rate on K
G
a in an RPB.
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie202983x | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2012, 51, 1094910954 10952
reduces the gas-side mass-transfer resistance in the simulta-
neous absorption process, resulting in the increase of K
G
a.
Although the higher gas volumetric ow rate leads to a decrease
in the mass-transfer resistance in the single absorption process,
the increase of gas volumetric ow rate decreases the removal
rate of CO
2
and the NTU of CO
2
, and the decrease of CO
2
NTU dominates in this process. Therefore, the value of K
G
a
S
decreases with an increase of gas volumetric ow rate. It is also
found that the K
G
a value is 24 times higher than the K
G
a
S
value.
Figure 6 is a plot of K
G
a versus the NH
3
/CO
2
molar ratio. It
can be seen that the K
G
a value increased as the NH
3
/CO
2
molar ratio increased from
1
/
3
to 3. For the relatively very high
solubility of ammonia in water, the increase in NH
3
/CO
2
molar
ratio leads to a higher NH
3
concentration, relative to CO
2
in
water, and consequently enhances the reaction between NH
3
and CO
2
, causing an increase in the value of K
G
a.
Figures 36 show that K
G
a* is higher than K
G
a as a result of
dierent boundary conditions. When the contributions of the
hollow central region of the RPB and the space between the
rotator and the casing to mass transfer are considered, it is
found that the mass-transfer coecient in the RPB is lower
than that reported previously. The mass transfer in the RPB
includes mass transfer in the packing, mass transfer in the
hollow central region of the RPB, and the space between the
casing and the rotator. The K
G
a* was obtained in the
assumption that the entire mass-transfer eciency in the RPB
was contributed by only the packing. However, the practical
mass transfer in the RPB should include the mass transfer in the
hollow central region of the RPB and the space between the
casing and the rotator. Therefore, the K
G
a* value is greater
than the K
G
a value, and the latter should be adopted to obtain
the practical value of the mass-transfer coecient in an RPB.
Figure 7 shows that the K
G
a value of CO
2
decreased as the
system temperature increased in both the simultaneous
absorption process and the single CO
2
absorption process.
Because the two absorption processes are continuous processes
and the contact time between gas and liquid is short in the
RPB, the system temperature, liquid temperature, and gas
temperature can thus be regarded as constant. The reaction
between NH
3
and CO
2
in water is an exothermic reaction, and
the solubility of the two gases in water decreases as the
temperature increases, resulting in a decrease in the values of
K
G
a and K
G
a
S
. It is also found that, as the system temperature
increases, the value of K
G
a decreases faster than that of K
G
a
S
.
Because NH
3
and CO
2
solubility in water decreases with the
increase of temperature, the simultaneous absorption of these
two gases weakens, resulting in a faster decrease of K
G
a
S
.
5. CONCLUSIONS
The more-accurate design equations in the RPB and local mass-
transfer coecients in dierent regions of the RPB were
attained by the material balance. The design equation was
developed to obtain the K
G
a value of CO
2
with the
simultaneous absorption of NH
3
and CO
2
into water in the
RPB. It was found that the K
G
a value increased as the rotation
speed, liquid volumetric ow rate, gas volumetric ow rate, and
NH
3
/CO
2
molar ratio increased and the temperature
decreased. The experimental results indicated that there was a
dierence between the values of K
G
a and K
G
a* attained by
dierent boundary conditions, and to achieve a practical value
of K
G
a in an RPB, the accurate design equation should be
adopted. It was also found that the K
G
a value of CO
2
in the
simultaneous absorption of NH
3
and CO
2
into water in the
RPB was 26 times higher than that in the single CO
2
absorption process, and the absorption of CO
2
into water in
the RPB is greatly intensied by the simultaneous absorption
process. The study of local mass-transfer coecients in
dierent regions of the RPB is signicant for the design of an
Figure 5. Eect of gas volumetric ow rate on K
G
a in an RPB.
Figure 6. Eect of NH
3
/CO
2
molar ratio on K
G
a in an RPB.
Figure 7. Eect of temperature on K
G
a in an RPB.
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie202983x | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2012, 51, 1094910954 10953
RPB. However, it is dicult to obtain the mole fractions in
liquid and gas at the inner radius of the packing (r
i
) and the
outer radius of the packing (r
o
) in the used RPB. Moreover, this
part of research is related to the optimization design of the
RPB; therefore, it will be the focus of our future research.

AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*Tel.: +86 10 64443134. Fax: +86 10 64434784. E-mail
addresses: zouhk@mail.buct.edu.cn (H.K.Z.); chugw@mail.
buct.edu.cn (G.W.C.).
Notes
The authors declare no competing nancial interest.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by National Natural Science
Foundation of China (Nos. 20676006 and 20990221), National
High-Tech Research Program of China (863 Program) (No.
2009AA033301) and Program for New Century Excellent
Talents in University of China (No. NCET-07-0053).

NOMENCLATURE
a = gasliquid interfacial area (m
2
m
3
)
G = gas molar ow rate (mol s
1
)
h = axial length of the casing, (m)
K
G
a = overall volumetric mass-transfer coecient of gas
phase (mol m
3
s
1
)
K
L
a = overall volumetric mass-transfer coecient of liquid
phase (mol m
3
s
1
)
L = liquid molar ow rate (mol s
1
)
m = Henrys constant of CO
2
in water
r = radial coordinate of a spherical droplet (m)
r
i
= inner radius of the packing (m)
r
o
= outer radius of the packing (m)
r
c
= inner radius of the RPB casing (m)
R = rotation speed (rpm)
T = temperature (K)
V = volume of the RPB (m
3
)
x = mole fraction of CO
2
in liquid stream
x
i
= mole fraction of CO
2
in the inlet liquid stream
x
o
= mole fraction of CO
2
in the outlet liquid stream
x
r
i
= mole fraction of CO
2
in liquid stream at the point of
radius r
i
x
r
o
= mole fraction of CO
2
in liquid stream at the point of
radius r
o
x* = liquid-phase mole fraction of CO
2
in equilibrium with
the concentration of CO
2
in gas
y = mole fraction of CO
2
in gas stream
y
i
= mole fraction of CO
2
in the inlet gas stream
y
o
= mole fraction of CO
2
in the outlet gas stream
y
r
i
= mole fraction of CO
2
in gas stream at the point of radius
r
i
y
r
o
= mole fraction of CO
2
in gas stream at the point of radius
r
o
y* = gas-phase mole fraction of CO
2
in equilibrium with the
concentration of CO
2
in liquid
Greek Letters
= Voidage of the dry packing, m
3
/m
3
Abbreviations
N
A
a = rate of mass transfer
NTU
G
= number of units of gas-phase mass transfer
NTU
L
= number of units of liquid-phase mass transfer
RPB = rotating packing bed
Indices
S = single CO
2
absorption process
E = end eect zone in the RPB
P = packing of the RPB
C = space between the casing and the rotator

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Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Article
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