Gas separation: processes – Liquid contacting – With cooling
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-28
2002-04-16
Smith, Duane S. (Department: 1724)
Gas separation: processes
Liquid contacting
With cooling
C062S632000, C096S266000, C096S322000, C422S173000, C422S202000, C423S220000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06372023
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of separating and recovering carbon dioxide from a combustion exhausted gas emitted from thermoelectric power plants, boilers in factories, blast furnaces of iron mills, incinerators, and the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of separating and recovering carbon dioxide from a combustion exhausted gas, by bringing the combustion exhausted gas into contact with water, and then separating and recovering carbon dioxide contained in the combustion exhausted gas as solid carbon dioxide hydrate. Further, the present invention relates to an apparatus for use in the above separation and recovery of carbon dioxide.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Several methods of separating and recovering carbon dioxide from combustion exhausted gas have been developed in view of protection of the global environment and the like. Such conventional methods include, for example, the chemical absorption method, the physical adsorption method, the film separation method, and the like. In the chemical absorption method, carbon dioxide is separated and recovered by utilizing characteristics of an amine absorption solution, which absorbs carbon dioxide at a temperature range of 40 to 50° C. and releases it at a temperature range of 100 to 120° C. In the physical adsorption method, carbon dioxide is separated and recovered by utilizing characteristics of zeolite, which adsorbs carbon dioxide at an increased pressure and desorbs it at a decreased pressure. Further, in the film separation method, carbon dioxide is film-separated by using a film made of porous hollow threads.
However, when carbon dioxide is separated and recovered by using the chemical absorption or physical adsorption methods, an extremely large amount of energy is required. For example, when carbon dioxide emitted from a thermoelectric power plant is recovered according to the chemical absorption method, the amount of energy required for the CO
2
recovery according to the method will reach 27% of the electric power generated in the plant. Similarly, when carbon dioxide emitted from a thermoelectric power plant is recovered according to the physical adsorption method, the amount of energy required for the CO
2
recovery according to the method will reach 40% of the electric power generated in the plant. The main reason such an large amount of energy has to be consumed is that the temperature/pressure difference between the CO
2
absorption/adsorption condition and the CO
2
release/desorption condition is very large. Accordingly, a tremendously large amount of energy is lost while absorption/release of carbon dioxide is repeated by using amines or zeolite. On the other hand, in the film separation method, in which CO
2
is separated based on its molecular size, there arises a problem that N
2
molecules and CO
2
molecules contained in combustion exhausted gas are hardly separated, as the sizes of N
2
molecules and CO
2
molecules are approximately equal, resulting in low purity of the recovered CO
2
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to overcome the aforementioned defects in the conventional methods of separating CO
2
from combustion exhausted gas. Specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of separating and recovering CO
2
from combustion exhausted gas, which method allows recovery of CO
2
of high purity at low cost and low energy consumption. Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that is used in the above-described method of separating and recovering CO
2
.
Other and further objects, features, and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from the following description, take in connection with the accompanying drawings.
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Division of Fuel Chemistry, American Chemical Society, Preprints of symposia, vol. 45, No. 4, pp. 671-675, 200th ACS National Meeting, Aug. 20-24, 2000.
Kiyono Fumio
Saito Takayuki
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Secretary of Agency of Industrial Science and Technology
Smith Duane S.
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