Techno-Economic Evaluation and Comparative Analysis of the CO₂ Separation Processes Using Different Piperazine-Mixed Amine Absorbents

Abstract

CO₂ separation using an amine, in particular monoethanolaimne (MEA), is widely used in the carbon capture and storage (CCS) applications. Despite its technical and economic merits, new amines and improved systems, such as small-size processes that consume less utilities, must be developed to reduce capital and operating costs. Therefore, we aim to i) investigate the technical feasibility of new CO₂ separation processes using different amines, focusing on piperazine-mixed amines, and ii) comparatively analyze its economic competitiveness against conventional systems. In achieving this goal, we first perform process modeling and simulation for CO₂ separation processes using nine different amines: three single amines (MEA, diethanolamine and methyldiethanolamine) and six mixed amines by mixing the single amines with different amounts of piperazine. Using process models, we then estimate capital and operating costs of the processes, and comparatively analyze the economics of the processes based on the CO₂ processing cost. We also discuss the sensitivity of major parameters to the process economics with various technical and market scenarios.