CO2 Solutions has validated the benefits of the technology at
laboratory scale with available industrial low-energy solvents,
including methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) and certain carbonates and
amino acids. MDEA, for instance, is a widely used solvent for
natural gas treating at high pressure, but is generally regarded
as too kinetically limited for CO2 capture at ambient pressure,
such as from power plant flue gases. By employing CA, the rate
of CO2 absorption in MDEA is increased 50 fold, reducing the
height (and hence, cost) of the CO2 absorption by 90%.
Additionally, by taking advantage of the low-energy properties
of MDEA, solvent regeneration and process energy consumption is
reduced by 30% or more compared to the current industry standard
monethanolamine (MEA) process. For a typically coal-fired power
plant, this would translate into a CO2 capture cost savings of
approximately $50-70 million per year1. As the CO2 capture
portion represents about 80% of the total cost of CCS at
present2, this cost savings