A revisited differential simulation method is used for the design of a packed column in which absorption accompanied by a reversible chemical reaction takes place. The method is based on integration of local rates of absorption along the column. The local rates of absorption are measured in a laboratory model contactor for various compositions of the gas and liquid phases under different hydrodynamic conditions characterized by the physical mass transfer coefficient in the liquid. An explicit formula correlating the data is given which facilitates the design calculations including possible axial mixing of the gas phase in the column. As the model contractor a mixed cell is used in which the interfacial area is well defined. By using an auxiliary surface stirrer the values of the physical mass transfer coefficient are extended up to the values encountered in packed absorbers. In experiments, carbon dioxide was absorbed into a solution of triethanolamine, diethanolamine, and an activator (1,6-diaminohexane, hmda) in the following range of experimental conditions : temperature 50-80-degrees-C, partial pressure of carbon dioxide up to 700 kpa, liquid loading 0-40 (N m3 CO2)/m3, activator concentration 1.6-3.38 wt %. The revisited method is used for simulated design of existing industrial scrubbers.