Characterization of Amine Emissions from an Industrial Carbon Capture Facility of a Coal-Fired Power Plant in China

Abstract Postcombustion carbon capture using amine-based solvents is a key technology for CO2 mitigation from flue gas. However, amine slip during operation may lead to the emissions of solvents and their products into the atmosphere, raising environmental and health concerns. Despite increasing deployment of large-scale facilities, emission characteristics under real industrial conditions remain scarce. This study conducted real-time measurements of the flue gas at an industrial coal-fired carbon capture facility in China, covering both a single monoethanolamine (MEA) system and a blended-solvent system containing 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP), diglycolamine, and N-methyldiethanolamine. Total amine emissions, representing gas-phase amines together with the aerosol-associated fraction that volatilized during heated sampling, ranged from 2.3 to 30.4 ppm. The single-MEA system produced higher concentrations of degradation products including NH3, C1–3 aldehydes, and low-molecular-weight amines. In the blended system, strong temporal variability was dominated by AMP, while degradation products were partially decoupled from parent amines. Emission behaviors differ between the single-MEA and blended-solvent systems, with emissions decreasing in the single-MEA system with lean solvent temperature and inlet CO2 concentration, and increasing in the blended-solvent system with wash water temperature and CO2 loading. These characteristics differ from those reported in laboratory and pilot-scale systems, reflecting scale-dependent emission mechanisms governed by coupled operating conditions and providing insights into emission monitoring and management under future large-scale carbon capture deployment.