Monitoring and mitigation of aerosol related solvent emissions in post combustion capture (AEROSOLVE)

One of the most important research topics in post combustion CO₂ capture with reactive absorption technology is to control the emissions of amine and amine degradation products to the atmosphere. It has been shown that by proper design of absorber and water wash, the amount of emission components in the treated gas can be controlled. However, with exhaust gas from coal fired plants it has also been found that emissions can still be higher than expected regulation permits will allow. The main part of the emissions is then caused by aerosols formed as a result of interaction between particles, trace components present in the flue gas and amine in the absorber.

Cement plants, steel plants, biofuel plants and waste incineration plants are similar flue gas sources where mist inducing components may pose a challenge for deployment of CO₂ capture at large scale. It is commonly known that flue gas pre-treatment, absorber configuration, operating conditions and solvent selection are factors that can minimize these emissions, but there is currently limited theoretical understanding of the physical/chemical mechanisms involved in the process and certainly insufficient knowledge to allow the techno-economic optimisation of aerosol control at industrial scale. There are also contradictory results reported in literature as to e.g. effect of various pre-treatment options.

Aerosolve has the following objectives:

• Obtain a deeper understanding of phenomena that lead to amine emissions by mist
• Develop methodologies for mist quantification, monitoring and characterization
• Test effects of operating conditions, pre-treatment options and mist reducing technologie

The project will lead improved insights in developing and operate CO₂ capture plants which have emission levels well below given emission permits.