Instrumentation and control in a laboratory-scale process for CO₂ capture post-combustion

The present study shows the instrumentation and control of a laboratory-scale post-combustion CO₂ capture process (CO₂-CP), including the implementation of a low-cost data acquisition system for monitoring and controlling the key process variables. This system simulates the capture of flue gases generated in thermoelectric power plants, as well as the operation of packed columns commonly employed in large-scale industrial applications. To ensure effective control, the developed platform continuously acquires and processes the operating variables throughout the experimental tests. Temperature and flow rate are acquired in real time using an open-source graphical user interface. Once the monitoring system was validated, experimental tests were conducted to evaluate the response of the CO₂ absorption process under operating conditions. The experiments were performed using a 10% monoethanolamine (MEA) solution, where the absorption process exhibited an exothermic reaction, producing an approximately 2 °C temperature increase at the outlet of the absorption column and reaching saturation after approximately 300 s. In addition to monitoring the process's thermal behavior, maintaining mass balance throughout the system is essential to ensure stable operation and compliance with the continuity principle, whereby the inlet flow rate equals the outlet flow rate, thereby contributing to process stability and measurement reliability.