Scrubbing with Amine

Technology map

To facilitate ship owners’ eventual transition to renewable fuels and sources of energy, solutions for CO₂ capture are needed in the short term. Post-combustion chemical absorption is one of the most promising alternatives nowadays and amine-based scrubbers are among the most proven and mature.

This technology, based on amine chemical absorption, is conceived for CCS in marine onboard application with the main goal of reducing the dimensions and complexity of the system. Considering the power consumption, another particular focus is the process optimization, using the thermal energy available on board.

The amine liquid solution is used as reagent in the CO₂ -scrubber to reversibly absorb carbon dioxide from the exhaust gas. CO₂-rich amine solution is subsequently regenerated by means of the combined action of vacuum and heat in a dedicated stage of the plant and then re-used in the main scrubber. The desorbed CO₂ is liquefied and temporarily stored on board in cryogenic tanks before disposal in port.
Amine thermal regeneration represents the main operating cost associated with amine scrubbing. The solution that Ecospray is using is thin-film regeneration, which allows for the removal of CO₂ from the amine solution at lower temperatures thanks to the optimum combination of temperature, vacuum and low quantity of steam injection. This represents an important saving, because this heat can be recovered by the engine cooling system without burning additional fuel.