Studies of the coordination effect of DEA-MEA blended amines (within 1 + 4 to 2 + 3 M) under heterogeneous catalysis by means of absorption and desorption parameters

[Display omitted] •The coordination effect of MEA + DEA blend was investigated with optimized ratio as DEA:MEA>2.31.(69.8%:30.2%).•The catalytic CO2 absorption with CaCO3 was simulated and discovered the activation energy of 9% lower than the non-catalytic case.•The catalytic CO2 absorption of 1.25 + 3.75 M to 1.75 + 3.25 M was studied with Lewis base CaCO3 and Solid acids γ-Al2O3 and H-ZSM-5 simultaneously.•The absorption parameter and desorption parameters were calculated to explore the most suitable combination of 1.50 + 3.50 M with heterogeneous catalysts. One of the energy-efficient approach was to adopt amine blends with the combination of heterogeneous catalysts as a new solution for an amine scrubbing process of a coal-fired pilot plant. The major challenge was the contradiction that the energy-efficient amine solvents in the desorber usually behave poorly in the absorber. This study re-investigated the “coordination effect” of “MEA + DEA amine blends” and “heterogeneous catalytic CO2 absorption and CO2 desorption” in theory first, and then conducted the heterogeneous catalytic CO2 absorption with solid alkaline catalyst and CO2 desorption with solid acid catalysts onto 1 + 4 ~ 2 + 3 mol/L MEA + DEA blends. After the comprehensive analyses of the “absorption parameter” and “desorption parameter” into 1.25 + 3.75 to 2 + 3 mol/L blended amines with CaCO3 and blended γ-Al2O3 + H-ZSM-5(2:1), it’s found that the most suitable combination was 1.50 + 3.50 mol/L MEA + DEA with heterogeneous catalysis. This combination was more suitable and applicable to both absorber and desorber with catalytic packing than 2 + 3 mol/L MEA + DEA in an amine scrubbing process of capture pilot plant.