Amine Adsorbents Stability for Post‐Combustion CO₂ Capture: Determination and Validation of Laboratory Degradation Rates in a Multi‐staged Fluidized Bed Pilot Plant

Abstract

Alternative to current liquid amine technologies for post‐combustion CO2 capture, new technologies such as adsorbent‐based processes are developed wherein material lifetime and degradation is important. Herein a robust method to determine degradation rates in a laboratory setup is developed, which was validated with a continuous multi‐staged fluidized bed pilot plant designed to capture 1 ton CO2 per day. An amine functionalized polystyrene adsorbent showed very good agreement between the experimental 1000‐hour laboratory degradation rates and 2200 hours of degradation in a pilot plant. This validates how laboratory experiments can be extrapolated for sorbent screening and for scale‐up. Resulting, the oxidative degradation in the desorber at high temperatures (120°C) and low O2 concentrations (150 ppmv) is 3 times higher compared to the adsorber at low temperatures and high O2 (56°C, 7 vol%). Laboratory degradation experiments can hence be used to further optimize process operations to limit degradation or screen for potential new adsorbents.