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Advanced Amine Solvent Formulations and Process Integration for Near-Term CO₂ Capture Success—Trimeric Corporation, 107 S. Austin Street, Buda, TX  78610-2733; 512-295-8118, www.trimeric.com 

Mr. Kevin S. Fisher, Principal Investigator, kevin.fisher@trimeric.com

Mr. Kenneth E. McIntush, Business Official, ken.mcintush@trimeric.com

DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-06ER84625

Amount:  $99,874 

The post-combustion capture of CO₂ from coal-fired power plants is a necessary component in any effort to reduce anthropogenic CO₂ emissions.  Currently, monoethanolamine (MEA) scrubbing is the state-of-the-art technology to remove CO₂ from flue gas.  However, conventional MEA scrubbing systems have high parasitic energy requirements, which can decrease the net power produced by as much as 33%.  Improved amine solvents and novel, highly-integrated process schemes could significantly reduce the parasitic energy demands of the CO₂ capture system.  Therefore, this project will establish the technoeconomic feasibility of a highly-integrated, advanced amine scrubbing system, along with a novel amine solvent, that can significantly reduce the parasitic energy requirements.  In Phase I, detailed costs for full-scale units will be prepared on the basis of rigorous process models, detailed heat and material balances, and equipment selection.  A plan for integrating these amine units in a full-scale, coal-fired power plant also will be developed. 

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:  An advanced amine scrubbing system would directly benefit over 98% of U.S. fossil power generation assets, should CO₂ capture become necessary.