Designing a solvent for gas absorption

We describe the molecular design of a solvent for removing carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide from gas mixtures. The design is arrived at by using recent methods of predicting the solubitity of gases in organic solvents from the functional groups of the solvent molecule. The predicted values of gas solubility and of the other relevant physical properties of the new solvent are then compared with experimentally measured values. Good agreement is found for gas solubitity. Two outline design studies are presented to compare the performance of the new solvent with that of solvents now used in practice. The work as a whole is intended to illustrate the potential and the limitations of the new theories of gas solubility, and to identify the need for future research