Whereas amine-based post-combustion CO₂ capture (PCC) is a proven technology, projects typically focus on the CO₂ capture plant as a standalone unit. This paper presents a holistic, system-level perspective addressing: (i) flue gas characterization, (ii) carbon capture process and (iii) system integration.

Often, flue gas characterization lacks high quality data. This influences emission limits, solvent make-up rate, CO₂ product quality and post-treatment units. Additionally, performance of pre-treatment sections are also often insufficiently examined. This often creates a bottleneck, forcing decisions between under or over design and finalization of performance warranties.

For PCC plant design, a range of customized solutions are available for process optimization. For amine system, solvent regeneration requires heat. There are opportunities for optimization through heat integration with upstream and downstream processes. The integration of waste heat and process heat are desirable to maximize heat recovery without investment in an auxiliary boiler. A toolbox comprising various heat integration strategies is summarized.

Project economics of the carbon capture process are strongly influenced by CO₂ partial pressure. In addition, opportunities for system-level optimization are discussed for both grassroots and retrofit applications.

The selection of these strategies requires balancing associated trade-offs.