Experimental investigation on post-combustion CO2 capture for [Bpy][NO3] and MEA aqueous blends with lower regeneration energy

CO 2 capture is an important technology to achieve carbon emission reduction. The key is reducing the energy consumption of the CO 2 capture process. Ionic liquids (ILs) blended with organic amines can be used as an efficient CO 2 absorbent allowing for low regeneration energy consumption. This work proposes the use of N-butylpyridinium nitrate ([Bpy][NO 3 ]) in combination with organic solvents for CO 2 capture. The effects of ILs concentration, reboiler load and flue gas concentration on regeneration energy consumption were studied on a continuous pilot unit for absorption-desorption process. The results showed that the CO 2 absorption capacity of 30 wt% MEA + 10 wt% [Bpy][NO 3 ] was 0.1308 g CO 2 /g solvent, higher than monoethanolamine/water, and the CO 2 absorption capacity remained at 74.3% after the five cycles. At 40 °C, the viscosity of IL-amine blending solvents before and after absorption was 2.01 and 3.534 mPa·s, respectively, significantly lower than that of the conventional non-aqueous phase absorbent. The continuous absorption-desorption results showed that the capture rate of IL blending reached more than 95%. The regeneration energy consumption is 34.2% lower than the 30 wt% MEA.