CO₂ capture from flue gas using the amine-based post-combustion technique is costly because of the high energy requirement for solvent regeneration. The addition of catalyst to the regeneration step can overcome this drawback. In this study, we investigate the regeneration performance of CO₂-rich MEA solution without and with two solid metal oxide catalysts—ZrO₂ and ZnO—within a temperature range of 40–86 °C. The solvent regeneration performance was evaluated in terms of CO₂ desorption rate, total amount of desorbed CO₂, solvent cyclic capacity, and CO₂-lean loadings achieved from the catalytic solutions in comparison with the noncatalytic MEA solution. To understand and support the obtained results BET, NH₃–TPD, pyridine–FTIR, and ¹³C NMR characterization techniques are performed. The obtained results suggest that both catalysts are capable of optimizing the solvent regeneration by desorbing up to 32% greater amounts of CO₂, improving the CO₂ desorption rate up to 54%, and increasing the solvent cyclic capacity up to 56%. On the basis of the obtained experimental and characterization results, a possible mechanism for metal oxide catalyst-aided MEA regeneration process is proposed. The stabilities of both catalysts are confirmed by 5 cyclic solvent regeneration experiments. Additionally, by studying the CO₂ absorption in MEA in the presence of catalyst, it has been investigated if the catalysts induce any undesired activity in the CO₂ absorption step. Catalytic regeneration of amine solvent can pace up the construction of large-scale CO₂ capture plants by economizing the process.

中文翻译：

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金属氧化物催化剂辅助胺溶剂再生的性能及机理

使用胺基后燃烧技术从烟道气中捕集CO _2的成本很高，因为溶剂再生需要很高的能量。在再生步骤中添加催化剂可以克服该缺点。在这项研究中，我们研究了在40–86°C的温度下，不使用和使用两种固体金属氧化物催化剂（ZrO ₂和ZnO）时，富含CO _2的MEA溶液的再生性能。根据CO _2的解吸速率，解吸的CO _2的总量，溶剂的循环容量和CO _2来评价溶剂的再生性能。与非催化MEA溶液相比，从催化溶液获得的贫油负载量。为了理解和支持所获得的结果，进行了BET，NH ₃ -TPD，吡啶-FTIR和¹³ C NMR表征技术。所得结果表明，两种催化剂均能够通过解吸多达32％的CO ₂量，改善CO ₂来优化溶剂再生。解吸率高达54％，溶剂循环容量提高至56％。在获得的实验和表征结果的基础上，提出了金属氧化物催化剂辅助MEA再生的可能机理。通过5次循环溶剂再生实验证实了两种催化剂的稳定性。另外，通过研究在催化剂存在下在MEA中的CO ₂吸收，已经研究了催化剂在CO ₂吸收步骤中是否诱导了任何不希望的活性。胺溶剂的催化再生可通过节省过程来加快大型CO ₂捕集装置的建设。