Accelerated MEA degradation study in hybrid CO2 capture systems

Abstract

CO2 capture systems are typically divided into pre- post- and oxyfuel- combustion systems. However, the interest on hybrid systems, which integrate elements of more than one of the above systems, is attracting major attention in recent times due to the potential higher energy efficiency. In this work, degradation studies have been conducted to identify operational issues related to amines degradation. Oxidative MEA degradation in presence of flue gas resembling oxygen enriched combustion has been investigated. MEA loss was 27% when flue gas with 15% CO2 was used at 70°C, while only 20% loss was found in the presence of 50% CO2, indicating that hybrid CO2 capture systems may be used to decrease amine degradation of traditional postcombustion technologies. N-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazin-3-one, N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-2-(2-hydroxyethylamino) acetamide, 2- oxadolidone, N-(2-hydroxyethyl)imidazole and N-N’-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)oxamine have been identified as MEA degradation products.