Evaluation of hybrid amines and alcohol solvent with ion-exchange resin catalysts for energy-efficient CO2 capture

The traditional carbon dioxide (CO2) desorption process in amine-based carbon capture requires high regeneration energy consumption, a factor that has severely limited its application. In this work, cation exchange resin catalysts are tested as a novel approach to accomplish improvement in aqueous monoethanolamine (MEA) regeneration in terms of the CO2 desorption rate, amount of CO2 released and relative heat duty. The results indicate that the cation exchange resin Amberlyst-15 significantly increased the amine regeneration rate and improved the amount of CO2 desorbed by 21%. A possible catalytic mechanism is proposed. In addition, the solvent effects of methanol and ethanol were also explored for low temperature and energy-saving CO2 desorption technology. In the case of a mixed 12.5 wt% ethanol and 2 wt% Amberlyst-15 catalyst, the system exhibited a reduction of 59% in the energy demand of CO2 desorption compared with the 5 M MEA baseline. To sum up, this work provides an efficient strategy for MEA regeneration at low temperature, thus reducing the energy consumption for CO2 capture.

Automated summary

In this study, cation exchange resin catalysts were used to improve the regeneration process of monoethanolamine (MEA) in carbon capture by enhancing the CO2 desorption rate and amount. The results showed that the Amberlyst-15 resin significantly increased the rate of amine regeneration and improved the amount of CO2 desorbed by 21%. Additionally, the effects of methanol and ethanol solvents were explored for energy-saving CO2 desorption.