Modeling study on CO2 and H2S simultaneous removal using MDEA solution

•A rate-based model was developed for simultaneous absorptions of acid gases into methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) solution.•The experimental data from a pilot-plant, and an industrial process plant were used to validate the model.•The effects of important process parameters on the absorption of acid gases were studied. This study presents a rate-based model of an absorber packed column for simultaneous absorptions of acid gases into methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) aqueous solution. The model is in good agreement with experimental data. The parametric study showed that the concentration of acid gases in the sweet gas stream increases by decrease in the specific surface area of packing. The peak of selectivity factor decreases with the increase in the mole ratio of CO2/H2S in the gas feed along the packed column. The sensitivity analysis reveals that selecting the accurate correlations of the gas-side mass transfer coefficient and specific surface area is vital.