LEMEDES-CO2: A Lab for Studying Degradation of Solvents used for CO2 Capture Post-combustion Amine Based Systems

One key criterion of CO2 capture solvents is their resistance to ageing – a set of thermal and chemical mechanisms - leading to a degradation of the process optimal operation and possible emissions. From literature, many lab-scale studies on solvent degradation are not sufficiently representative of industrial capture conditions. In order to address this issue, EDF R&D decided to set up a lab for studying degradation of solvents used for CO2 capture, named “LEMEDES-CO2”. In particular, LEMEDES- CO2 lab-scale apparatus has been designed to reproduce the dynamic cycling of the solvent between the absorber and the stripper columns. The technical features of this original lab-scale apparatus are based on the chemical absorption principle with short cycles of absorption and stripping and a fast heating up and cooling down of the solvent. Using MEA solvent as benchmark case, an important number of degradation products has been detected and most of the species are identified, in agreement with literature. Those results showed this bench scale set up capacity to mimic observed degradation behavior witnessed on industrial pilot plant, thus validating the capacity of the lab-scale experiment to simulate the operating conditions seen by the solvent during cycles of absorption and stripping.