Joseph E. Remias

Morpholine Nitrosation To Better Understand Potential Solvent Based CO2 Capture Process Reactions

The amine assisted CO₂ capture process from coal fired power plants strives for the determination of degradation components and its consequences. Among them, nitrosamine formation and their emissions are of particular concern due to their environmental and health effects. The experiments were conducted using morpholine as a representative secondary amine as a potential CO₂ capture solvent with 100 ppm standard NO₂ gas to better understand the nitrosamine reaction pathways under scrubber and stripper conditions. The role of nitrite in the nitrosation reaction was probed at elevated temperatures. The effects of different concentrations of nitrite on morpholine were evaluated. Formation rate, decomposition rates, activation energy, and the possible reaction pathways are elaborated. Thermal stability tests at 135 °C indicated the decomposition of nitrosamines at the rate of 1 μg/(g h) with activation energy of 131 kJ/mol. The activation energy for the reaction of morpholine with sodium nitrite was found as 101 kJ/mol. Different reaction pathways were noted for lower temperature reactions with NO₂ gas and higher temperature reactions with nitrite.

Improving carbon capture from power plant emissions with zinc- and cobalt-based catalysts

We report homogeneous catalysts that are soluble and stable in primary amine-based CO2 capture solvents. The zinc(II) and cobalt(III) complexes, which contain electron-donating multi-dentate anionic ligands, perform catalytic CO2 hydration at unparalleled observed rates under conditions conducive to industrial post-combustion carbon capture processes.