Postcombustion CO2 capture by chemical absorption: screening of aqueous amine(s)-based solvents

The purpose of our work was to evaluate separately the absorption and regeneration performances of different types of amine(s) based solvents (primary, secondary and tertiary alkanolamines, sterically hindered amines, non-cyclical tetramine and cyclical absorption activators) by carrying out screening tests using small scale apparatus: a gas-liquid contactor for absorption, namely a double-stirred cell, and a regeneration cell. Absorption and regeneration performances of the solvents were compared thanks to calculated absorption and regeneration efficiencies. Concerning the absorption results, the positive effect of an activator, and especially the cyclical di-amine piperazine (PZ), on the absorption performances of the different simple amine solutions was clearly highlighted. The activation of the secondary amine MMEA by PZ gives also higher absorption efficiencies. Regarding the regeneration tests, the better regeneration performances of tertiary and sterically hindered amines (MDEA and AMP) were confirmed. For the amines blends, higher regeneration performances were observed with PZ activated solutions than with PIP activated solutions. These absorption and regeneration results will be taken into account in the solvent selection for future combined absorption-regeneration tests. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of GHGT