Technology atlas / Capture & conditioning
Point-source capture by amine absorption
Chemical absorption removes CO₂ from flue or process gas, then heat regenerates the solvent and releases a concentrated CO₂ stream.
Technical reference · Updated 2026-10-10 · No current-news claim
Where the carbon goes
Capture alone stores nothing. The fate of the carbon is set by the downstream use or storage route.
Conceptual process flow · left to right
- 01Gas pretreatment
- 02Absorber
- 03Rich / lean heat exchange
- 04Stripper
- 05CO₂ drying + compression
From chemistry to process
- Feedstocks
- Flue gas or process off-gas, Aqueous amine solvent, Regeneration heat, Electricity
- Products
- Concentrated CO₂, CO₂-depleted gas
- Catalysts
- No catalyst; amine solvent formulation sets absorption rate, cyclic capacity and degradation
- Conditions
- Absorber near ambient temperature; stripper at elevated temperature with steam. Report solvent, capture rate, CO₂ purity and specific heat duty on one stated boundary.
Performance & demonstrated scale
Amine absorption is established in gas processing; readiness for a specific flue gas, capture rate and site must be shown by that installation.
0.5 mol CO₂/mol amine theoretical
0.119 GJ/t CO₂ theoretical
Economics
Cost depends strongly on CO₂ concentration, plant size, heat availability and operating hours. A capture cost excludes conditioning, transport and the downstream use or storage.
Climate considerations
Count emissions from regeneration heat, electricity and solvent supply. Fossil or biogenic origin of the captured carbon decides what downstream claims are possible.
CCU Reality Check · pathway assessment
What remains to be demonstrated?
This initial assessment separates process knowledge from the evidence needed for a commercial conclusion. Missing information is left unresolved.
| Dimension | Assessment and evidence gap |
|---|---|
| CO₂ feedstock availability | No site-specific supplier, volume, purity guarantee or delivery contract has been verified. |
| Capture and delivered cost | Not quantified. Capture, conditioning, compression and transport need separate boundaries. |
| Energy and hydrogen demand | Theoretical stoichiometric or thermodynamic values are shown above. Actual process energy and feed losses remain scenario assumptions. |
| Catalyst and reactor performance | No catalyst; amine solvent formulation sets absorption rate, cyclic capacity and degradation. No plant lifetime or sustained performance is verified here. |
| Product separation | The process flow identifies separation stages where relevant; a quantified separation duty and cost remain unavailable. |
| CAPEX and OPEX | No plant-specific capital estimate or complete operating-cost dataset is attached. |
| Minimum selling price | Not calculated. Capital recovery, utilization, financing and a complete operating boundary are required. |
| Fossil benchmark competitiveness | No verified regional benchmark comparison. Calculator benchmark values, where shown, are illustrative. |
| Climate performance | Count emissions from regeneration heat, electricity and solvent supply. Fossil or biogenic origin of the captured carbon decides what downstream claims are possible. |
| Scale-up bottlenecks | Regeneration heat demand and its source; Solvent degradation, emissions and reclaiming; Flue-gas impurities (SOₓ, NOₓ, O₂, particulates); Capture rate versus marginal energy penalty. |
| Customer and offtake readiness | No qualified-customer or executed-offtake evidence is attached to this pathway profile. |
| Policy dependence | Not assessed for a specific project or jurisdiction. Do not assume subsidies or certification eligibility. |