Fatemeh Moosavi

By Fatemeh Moosavi

Part of the book: Ionic Liquids

By Fatemeh Moosavi

This chapter investigates three ionic liquids (ILs), namely butyl pyridinium acetate ([BPy][AC]), butyl pyridinium benzoate ([BPy][BZ]), and butyl pyridinium propionate ([BPy][PR]), applied as potential absorbents for acid gases (hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide) in natural gas. The molecular dynamics (MD) simulation results indicate that the ILs have a relatively low dynamic and compact structure, with high viscosity in their pure state. Consistent with the findings of other researchers, the qualitative analysis of the simulation data for the mixture of an IL with acid and methane gases suggests that the dynamics of the IL enhances in the presence of these gases. The radial distribution functions reveal strong interactions and structural compatibility between the ILs and hydrogen sulfide molecules, indicating their suitability for hydrogen sulfide absorption. The amount of carbon dioxide gas absorbed by these ILs was calculated to be in the range of 0.08–0.11, while the absorption of hydrogen sulfide gas ranged from 0.12 to 0.18. [BPy][PR] IL exhibited the highest percentage of absorption for carbon dioxide (0.1083) and hydrogen sulfide (0.177). Furthermore, a comparison of the interactions between acidic gases and [BPy][PR] with the results of methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) clearly demonstrates the superior physical absorption of these gases by [BPy][PR].

Part of the book: Ionic Liquids - Recent Advances [Working title]