Catalysis of CO₂ absorption in aqueous solution by vanadate and sulfate and their application to post combustion capture

• Main Authors: Phan, Duong T., Maeder, Marcel, Burns, Robert C., Puxty, Graeme
• Other Authors: The University of Newcastle. Faculty of Science , School of Environmental and Life Sciences
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2015
• Subjects: post combustion capture; CO₂ capture; catalysis; inorganic oxoanions; vanadate; sulfate; Carbonic acid
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1336986

A promising option to improve post combustion capture (PCC) is to use inorganic catalysts to accelerate the absorption process of CO₂, in particular the reaction between CO₂ and water to form carbonic acid. In this study, the efficiency of sulfate and vanadate on enhancing the hydration reaction of CO₂ to form H₂CO₃ for PCC has been studied at 25°C by stopped-flow spectrophotometry. The catalytic rate constants were determined to be 14.2(2) and 277(6)M -1 s -1 for sulfate and vanadate, respectively. Their application to PCC was further investigated by simulating the effect of these catalysts on the absorption process under PCC operating conditions. Vanadate was confirmed to have a greater efficiency toward CO₂ hydration than sulfate and also a series of other inorganic catalysts reported earlier.