Development and Improvement of Reactive Solvents, Catalysts and Additives for Prevention of Nitrosamine Formation, Solvent Degradation and Catalyst Deactivation for Improved Performance of Catalyst-Aided Amine-Based CO2 Capture Process

加拿大从其化石燃料资源中获得了巨大的利益，从原油特许权使用费、税收和石油租赁销售中获得收入。此外，还有与石油相关的就业和经济活动。另一方面，加拿大的人均能源利用率是世界上最高的国家之一，因为加拿大是一个人口分散的北方大国。此外，目前和日益增加的大部分能源需求是通过燃烧化石燃料来提供的，这些燃料具有高碳强度，它们的提取和加工不仅非常耗能，而且对环境也有重大影响。特别是，化石燃料的能源生产最近被证明是二氧化碳（CO2）的主要贡献者，二氧化碳是一种主要的温室气体（GHG），对气候变化和全球变暖有直接影响。目前，寻找一种解决方案，使加拿大能够以环境可持续的方式从其庞大的化石燃料资源中受益，这是一个巨大的挑战。二氧化碳捕集与封存（CCS）是应对这一挑战的主要方法之一。然而，这种方法的主要障碍是目前效率不高，因为能源消耗大，工厂规模大，导致二氧化碳捕获成本高。最近，我们开发了一种新颖的、突破性的、改变游戏规则的催化剂辅助胺基技术，该技术大大降低了溶剂再生的能量需求和温度，并有可能大大减少设备尺寸。这种低温使热水能够用于溶剂再生，并为二氧化碳捕集装置用作发电厂的冷却塔创造了可能性。这些都是为了大幅降低二氧化碳捕获的成本。然而，还有一些额外的挑战，因为在操作中使用的一些更节能的胺溶剂可能产生亚硝胺，这是二氧化碳捕获过程的有害副产品。亚硝胺的形成也可能导致胺的降解和操作中使用的催化剂的失活。本研究将开发策略和操作过程配置，可以使用最好的催化剂和最节能的胺溶剂，以达到最佳的CO2捕获性能，而不会产生任何不利结果。这项研究将有助于在加拿大培养和维持一支强大的二氧化碳捕获合格人才队伍。这也将有助于显著改善新的催化剂辅助胺基二氧化碳捕集工艺，从而使其在工业上得以实施。此外，这将大大节省二氧化碳捕获的资金和运营成本，从而为CCS提供商业案例并增加经济活动。此外，它将为加拿大带来能源安全，使他们能够以环境可持续的方式开发其丰富的化石燃料资源。

Canada benefits tremendously from its fossil fuel resources, deriving revenues from crude oil royalties, taxes, and sales of petroleum leases. In addition, there is associated employment and economic activity derived from the oil patch. On the other hand, Canada’s energy utilization rate per capita is one of the highest in the world because Canada is a large northern country with a dispersed population base. Also, the majority of current and increasing energy needs is supplied by burning of fossil fuels, which have high carbon intensities, and their extraction and processing are not only very energy intensive, but also have a major impact on the environment. In particular, energy production from fossil fuels has recently been shown to be the key contributor of carbon dioxide (CO2), a major greenhouse gas (GHG), which has a direct influence on climate change and global warming. Currently, there is a huge challenge in finding a solution that will allow Canada to benefit from its large fossil fuel resources in an environmentally sustainable manner as a clean fuel. CO2 capture and storage (CCS) is a major component of the approaches that can be used to address this challenge. However, the main obstacle to this approach is that it is currently not efficient because of large energy penalty and plant size, leading to a high cost for CO2 capture. Recently, we have developed a novel, breakthrough, game-changing catalyst-aided amine-based technology that achieves a dramatic reduction in energy requirements and temperature for solvent regeneration, and the potential for a large reduction in equipment size. This low temperature enables the use of hot water for solvent regeneration, and creates the possibility for the CO2 capture plant to be used as a cooling tower for the electrical power plant. These are to drastically reduce the cost of CO2 capture. However, there are additional challenges as some of the more energy efficient amine solvents used in the operation could generate nitrosamines, a harmful by-product of the CO2 capture process. Nitrosamine formation could also lead to amine degradation and the deactivation of the catalysts used in the operation. This research will develop the strategies and operating process configuration that can use the best catalysts and the most energy efficient amine solvents to achieve the best performance in CO2 capture without any adverse results. This research will help to train and maintain a strong CO2 capture qualified personnel in Canada. It will also help to significantly improve the new catalyst-aided amine-based CO2 capture process leading to its implementation by industry. Further, it will lead to huge savings in capital and operating costs in CO2 capture thereby making a business case for CCS and increasing economic activities. In addition, it will lead to energy security for Canada enabling them to exploit their rich fossil fuel resources in an environmentally sustainable way.