Recent Advances in Post-Combustion CO2 Capture Chemistry

Carbon dioxide has become a major target for emission reduction strategies due to its rapidly increasing atmospheric levels. The dominant driving force is anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes. It is for this reason aqueous amine based carbon capture technologies of carbon dioxide generated from these sources has been identified as a crucial part of the global solution to mitigating these greenhouse gas emissions. Since the 1980's, amine-based post combustion carbon dioxide capture has become widely recognized as the most viable and near-ready technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the midterm. However, the large scale roll-out of the technology has been hindered by a number of technical challenges, several of which are addressed in the chapters of this monograph, including i) cost of scaleup; ii) energy efficiency penalty for solvent regeneration; iii) solvent degradation in the presence of the various flue gas constituents; and iv) the potential environment impacts of solvents and solvent degradation products released to the environment. In line with this resurgence in the technology a considerable amount of research was undertaken in an attempt to further understand the chemistry involved in the capture of carbon dioxide from flue gas streams using aqueous amines. In developing amine-based post combustion carbon dioxide capture as a commercially viable solution for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in a carbon-constrained future, researchers worldwide are addressing all challenges to the technology to accelerate its implementation while maintaining a realistic approach to the economics of the process and its environmental impacts. Over the past 6-7 years there has been an intense global resurgence in developing a deeper understanding of the chemistry of post combustion carbon dioxide capture in an endeavor to reduce the cost of the process and determine the environmental footprint of this technology to make it a practical option for mitigating carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power stations. The chapters in this monograph are contributions from the Chemistry of Post- Combustion Carbon Dioxide Capture symposium held at the Pacifichem 2010, International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies. The symposium was dedicated to capturing snapshots of the most recent advances in carbon dioxide capture using solvent-based post combustion carbon dioxide capture technology.