In this work

an air-blast atomizing column was used to study the CO

2

capture performance with aqueous MEA (mono-ethanol-amine) and NaOH solutions. The effects of gas flow rate

the liquid to gas ratio (L/G)

the CO

2

concentration on the CO

2

removal efficiency (

η

) and the volumetric overall mass transfer coefficient (

K

G

a

v

) were investigated. The air-blast atomizing column was also compared with the pressure spray tower on the studies of the CO

2

capture performance. For the aqueous MEA and NaOH solutions

the experimental results show that the

η

decreases with increasing gas flow rate and CO

2

concentration while it increases with increasing L/G. The effects on

K

G

a

v

are more complicated than those for

η

. When the CO

2

concentration is low (3 vol%)

K

G

a

v

increases with increasing gas flow rate while decreases with increasing L/G. However

when the CO

2

concentration is high (9.5 vol%)

as the gas flow rate and L/G increases

K

G

a

v

increases first and then decreases. The aqueous MEA solution achieves higher

η

and

K

G

a

v

than the aqueous NaOH solution. The air-blast atomizing column shows a good performance on CO

2

capture.