Whereas amine-based post-combustion CO2 capture 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) the carbon capture process, (ii) flue gas characterization, and (iii) system integration.

Project economics of the carbon capture process are strongly influenced by CO2 partial pressure and CO2 capture rate. Feed gas temperature also influences the overall water balance. A case study on the variation of these parameters and the impact towards column design and regeneration energy will be presented.

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. A case study on selected contaminants and aerosols will be presented.

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 a range of heat integration strategies is summarized.