Abstract – TCCS-12: Towards understanding CESAR1 degradation

A reason why aqueous ethanolamine (MEA) is still considered a benchmark solvent for CO2 capture by some, despite of its relatively high energy consumption and relative instability compared to other solvents, is the abundance of knowledge and public data on MEA performance and chemistry. With more than 50 identified degradation compounds and successful attempts to find all nitrogen “lost” through MEA degradation in these degradation compounds, one can say that the mass and nitrogen balance of MEA during degradation, is closed. MEA is, however, no longer the solvent of choice for post combustion CO2 capture, but rather replaced with more stable and more energy efficient solvents and solvent blends. One of the most frequently used solvents that is non-proprietary, is an aqueous mixture of piperazine (PZ) and 2-amino 2-methylpropan-1-ol (AMP), mostly known by the name CESAR1, as it was developed during the EU project CESAR (CO2 Enhanced Separation and Recovery) from 2008 to 2011…

Keywords: post-combustion capture, absorption, solvent stability, amine, AMP, PZ

Authors: Vanja Buvik, Kai Vernstad, Andreas Grimstvedt, and Eirik Falck da Silva
SINTEF Industry, NO-7465 Trondheim, Norway