Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

The chemical absorption of CO2 in mixed solvents is considered to be a promising technology for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture from post-combustion industrial effluents to reduce global warming. The regeneration of the solvent is costly, consuming 30 to 40% of the energy from the power station. To reduce the energy cost, a novel concept has been proposed in which the aqueous solutions of amines that phase separate at elevated temperatures would be used as the carbon-capture solvent. This project proposal is for a fundamental study of physico-chemical and engineering properties of binary and ternary systems containing a series of structurally-related amines suitable for these ""de-mixing"" carbon capture processes. These measurements will be carried out over an extended range of temperatures using high-precision instruments, with unique, complementary capabilities, at Universite Blaise Pascal in Clermont Ferrand and the University of Guelph. The study will elucidate the structure-property relationships needed to design suitable de-mixing amines for CO2 absorption, by measuring the properties of a class of piperidine derivatives which undergo liquid-liquid phase separation and analysing the effect of substitution by alkyl and/or aryl groups in different positions on the ring. The thermodynamic measurements (CO2 solubilities and liquid-liquid equilibria; enthalpies of mixing; excess molar heat capacities and volumes) will be performed mainly in the Laboratory for Thermodynamics and Molecular Interactions at Universite Blaise Pascal. Raman spectroscopy at the Hydrothermal Chemistry Group of the University of Guelph will bring new information on the speciation of the absorbed carbon dioxide in amine solutions and in coexisting phases after de-mixing. Canadian and French industrial partners, Gas Liquid Engineering Ltd. and IFP Energies Nouvelles, will provide guidance in the modelling and field applications of this new carbon capture technology.