Post Combustion Research Articles

Performance study of an electrified temperature vacuum swing adsorption cycle for post combustion carbon capture

The performance of a fully electrified temperature vacuum swing adsorption (E-TVSA) carbon capture process is investigated and compared with the performance of a VSA cycle as the reference case. A five-step process including (I) adsorption, (II) co-current heating, (III) counter-current evacuation, (IV) counter-current pressurizing, and (V) co-current closed loop cooling steps was devised and simulated. The adsorption time, electric heating power, and evacuation pressure were chosen as the independent variables for evaluating their impact on key performing indicators (KPI) of purity, recovery, productivity and energy consumption. In total 2717 cases were simulated to the cyclic steady state condition to provide 44 contours of the KPIs. From these contours it can be concluded that in E-TVSA carbon capture using 13X zeolite, a temperature rise of almost 50 degrees is necessary during the heating step, and the evacuation step should be continued to reach a pressure between 2.5 and 3 kPa. Under these conditions, a recovery and purity of more than 98 % were achieved with a production rate above 1.1 kg CO2/kg ads day and a specific energy consumption of 1.74 MJ/kg CO2 (0.61 MJ/kg CO2 for evacuation and 1.13 MJ/kg CO2 for heating). When comparing E-TVSA and VSA, it is noteworthy that the production rate and specific energy consumption of E-TVSA are in the same order as that of VSA. However, E-TVSA surpasses VSA in terms of purity and recovery rates. Further analysis of the transformation efficiency from electricity to heat revealed the transformation efficiency must be at least 50 % to keep the energy consumption below 3 MJ/kg CO2.

Direct modification of pelletized 13X zeolite by atomic layer deposition toward effective CO2 capture from flue gas

As a promising sorbent material for post combustion CO2 capture, 13X zeolite has been broadly investigated in pressure/vacuum swing adsorption (P/VSA). However, recent P/VSA process simulation studies have posited that some metal organic frame works (MOFs) with reduced CO2 and N2 adsorption affinities and adsorption enthalpies can enable process level improvements, suggesting that the CO2/N2 adsorption strength in 13X may be stronger than what is optimal for post combustion CO2 capture (PCC) via P/VSA. Via preferential H2O adsorption on strong adsorption sites in 13X zeolite, we found that temporarily passivating these sites led to enhancements in CO2 working capacity (5–15 kPa CO2, 30 °C) and CO2/N2 separation factor (5–15 kPa CO2, 1–85 kPa N2, 30 °C) by 12 % and 94 %, respectively. To permanently weaken the adsorption strength in 13X, we employed H2O/TiCl4 atomic layer deposition (ALD) to “passivate” the strong adsorption sites and thus fabricate a novel adsorbent, Ti-13X, and investigated the effect of selective inhibition of high adsorption strength sites on the thermodynamic CO2/N2 adsorption properties. The modification technique resulted in suppressed CO2 and N2 adsorption affinity, manifesting in a 10 % and 133 % increase in the CO2 working capacity (5–15 kPa, 30 °C) and CO2/N2 separation factor (5–15 kPa CO2, 1–85 kPa N2, 30 °C), respectively. CO2 microcalorimetry experiments showed a suppressed and homogenized CO2 heat of adsorption in Ti-13X versus pristine 13X, indicating that high enthalpy CO2 adsorption was inhibited while the CO2 physisorption behavior was preserved. When evaluated using the General Evaluation Metric (GEM), Ti-13X scored similarly to promising MOFs and significantly outscored pristine 13X, suggesting its merit for future investigation.

A comprehensive review of carbon dioxide sequestration: Exploring diverse methods for effective post combustion CO2 capture, transport, and storage

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a prominent anthropogenic greenhouse gas known for its detrimental impact on climate change and contribution to global warming. The significant rise in CO2 emissions has prompted extensive research into Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology. The primary objective of CCS technology is to mitigate CO2 levels in the atmosphere through the recovery of CO2 from industrial flue gases, achieved through three key stages: CO2 capture from flue gases, CO2 transport, and subsequent storage. This review provides a comprehensive overview of various techniques employed to remove CO2 from flue gases, focusing on physical, chemical and biological methods. The article included comprehensive information about the chemical process, including its benefits and limitations. An extensive overview of the biological and physical approaches was also provided. A brief discussion is given of the engineering aspects of CO2 transfer via pipelines and ships, as well as its storage alternatives (oceanic, geological, and mineralization).Through an analysis of these various approaches, this review directs scientists and researchers toward improving their comprehension and use of effective CO2 collection techniques, consequently tackling the problems associated with global warming.

Impact of pilot diesel injection timing on performance and emission characteristics of marine natural gas/diesel dual-fuel engine

In diesel-ignited natural gas marine dual-fuel engines, the pilot diesel injection timing (PDIT) determines the premixing time and ignition moment of the combustible mixture in the cylinder. The PDIT plays a crucial role in the subsequent development of natural gas flame combustion. In this paper, four PDITs (− 8 °CA, − 6 °CA, − 4 °CA, and − 2 °CA) were studied. The results show that the advancement of PDIT increased the engine's power, thermal efficiency, and natural gas flame spread velocity, and increased NO emissions and CH4 emissions of the marine engine. The PDIT affected the ignition delay period and the rapid combustion period to a greater extent than the slow combustion period and the post combustion period. With each 2 °CA advancement of PDIT, the engine's power increased by 69.87 kW, thermal efficiency increased by 0.42%, radial flame spread velocity increased by 2 m/s, axial flame spread velocity increased by 1.7 m/s, NO emissions increased by 6.1%, and CH4 emissions increased by 3.75%.

Dissociation Constant of Di‐ and Tri‐Basic Solvents Based on Piperazine and Its Derivatives for Post‐Combustion CO2 Capture

AbstractAmine solvents remain popular in the industries for post combustion carbon dioxide (CO2) capture. Dissociation constant of basic amine solvents plays significant role to influence the CO2 absorption. It is thus important to study the dissociation of new amine solvents for assessing their viability for CO2 capture. In the present work, potentiometric titration method is employed to determine the dissociation constants of dibasic (e. g., Piperazine (PZ), 1‐methyl piperazine (1‐MPZ) and tribasic amines (1‐(2‐aminoethyl‐piperazine) (AEPZ) which could be promising for formulating blended solvent system towards enhancing the rate of CO2 absorption. The estimated dissociation constants for the PZ and 1‐MPZ while match well with reported results, the dissociation constants for AEPZ has been determined newly here within the temperature range 298—318 K. In addition, the structural geometric parameters and Natural Bond Order (NBO) calculations of the amine solvents are performed based on Density Functional Theory (DFT). The NBO calculations predict charge distribution on the nitrogen and other elements, and envisage its effect on the pKa values of the amines. Further, potential energy surface (PES) scanning calculations are performed for AEPZ to explain it's ring inversion which is responsible for obtaining a single pKa value in experimental studies.

Application of MOFs-membrane in post-combustion carbon capture for electricity and thermal energy plants

Greenhouse gas emission typically carbon dioxide which result to global warming is becoming a very acute issue to human society. In order to achieve a sustainable development and society, various approaches to reduce carbon emission have been investigated and applied to industry where the majority of carbon emission happens in recent decays. Carbon capture is one of the key ways to address the emission and widely applied to coal-fired power plants. However, typically carbon capture process requires high energy input during the absorption and desorption process with lead to a low net carbon captured rate and high cost of operation. Materials with low energy penalty and high carbon affinity is desired to address this problem. In this research, a more advanced material, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), for carbon capture under post combustion condition is introduced and evaluated from single material and cooperating with mixed-matrix-membranes to achieve membrane separation. Furthermore, MOFs are usually lack of stability and CO2/H2O selectivity. CALF-20 as the solution to these problems will be introduced later.

Industrial test of post combustion CO2 capture by reactive absorption with two new solvents in natural gas power plant

The post-combustion chemical decarbonization process is one of the key technology selections for the low-carbon development of natural gas power plants. The high energy consumption of amine regeneration is hindering its commercial application. In this paper, two new mixed amines solvent 15%Diethylaminoethanol (DEEA) +9% Piperazine (PZ)+ 6% Monoethanolamine (MEA) named DT01-3 and 22% 1,4-butanediamine (BDA)+ 4% N-Methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) + 4% 2-Amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP) named DT02-2 are verified by the 3000Nm3/h industrial demonstration system. The steady state condition was gradually established by adjusting the main parameters such as flue gas flow rate, absorber inlet flue gas temperature, solvent circulation flow rate, regeneration tower operation pressure, steam flow rate and so on with the goal of maintaining ≥90% of the capture efficiency. The results show that the CO2 capture efficiency of DT01-3 and DT02-2 is 91.23% and 90.81% respectively. The regeneration heat consumption is 3.65 GJ/tCO2 and 3.73 GJ/tCO2. The amines consumption is 0.95kg/tCO2,1.1kg/tCO2. The operating cost of DT01-3 and DT02-2 is 336.37 CNY/t,346.04 CNY/t, which is 20.94%,18.68% lower compared with MEA.

Evaluation of a tetramine-appended MOF for post combustion CO[formula omitted] capture from natural gas combined cycle flue gas by steam-assisted temperature swing adsorption

A novel tetraamine-appended metal–organic framework (MOF), exhibiting double-stepped isotherm was explored in a 3-step steam-assisted temperature swing adsorption process (SA-TSA) for CO2 removal from dry flue gas emitted from natural gas-fired power plants (NGCC). The reported material exhibited properties highly suited for CO2 capture from dilute sources. Extensive numerical simulations were performed to comprehend the impact of isotherm shape, heat transfer coefficient, feed temperature and heat capacity of solid on adsorption and desorption dynamics in a fixed bed. A multi-objective optimization was performed to identify operating conditions that achieve low steam consumption and high productivity while maintaining high purity (≥95%) and high recovery (≥90%). It was found that high purity and high recovery are obtained only when the process is isothermal. Thermal fronts propagating through the column impact the process performance. We show that the process cannot achieve recovery targets, i.e., ≥90%, unless heat is removed from the system rapidly. The lowest achievable specific steam consumption is ≈45kgsteamkgCO2−1 and highest achievable productivity is ≈0.1molco2madsorbent−3s−1 in an isothermal scenario.

Design and study of a novel ammonia‐based CO2 capture process with bipolar membrane electrodialysis

AbstractAqueous ammonia is a promising absorbent in the field of post combustion CO2 capture. However, the high volatilization of NH3 results in a high energy requirement, as well as solid precipitation during the CO2 regeneration process. A novel process was designed to reduce energy consumption and solve the problem. The bipolar membrane electrodialysis (EDBM) unit and CO2 regeneration reactor were taken as the regeneration part. In the novel process, the bubble in the EDBM unit would be eliminated, and the regeneration of CO2 and aqueous ammonia would be operated separately, which significantly reduced energy consumption and avoided the risk of precipitation during regeneration. According to the simulation and calculation results, the CO2 regeneration energy consumption of the novel process using H2SO4 for CO2 regeneration is 39.0% lower than that of the conventional ammonia‐based process, which shows good energy saving potential. Moreover, the novel process will be more competitive as membrane technology develops.

Carbon capture from humid gases using alkaline-promoted polypyrrole by a vacuum swing adsorption process

Post-combustion carbon capture from humid flue gas is one of the urgent research projects for achieving the target of carbon neutrality in near future. Nitrogen-containing polymers are considered as a promising adsorbent for carbon capture in flue gases due to their potential water resistance. Here, two-step synthesis of alkaline-promoted polypyrrole (AP-PPy) with water resistance was investigated as an adsorption material for carbon capture and separation. It was found from chemical and physical analysis that the alkaline-promoted sample kept the similar morphological structure as the pristine polypyrrole but possessed more amino groups. The adsorption of single component gases revealed that the adsorption amounts of CO2, CH4, and N2 were 1.31, 0.28 and 0.065 mmol/g at 303 K respectively, among which the CO2 uptake was 80% higher compared with the original polypyrrole. The breakthrough point of AP-PPy in moisture is comparable to that of dry mixture, but the dynamic CO2 adsorption capacity is calculated to be larger than that of dry condition. A single-bed three-step vacuum swing adsorption cycling device was constructed in the laboratory and the effect of adsorption time, vacuum pressure and feed flowrate on product purity and recovery were explored with over 50 cycles in each condition to ensure cyclic steady adsorption, thereby also verifying the recyclability of AP-PPy. The excellent CO2 adsorption and separation properties demonstrated that AP-PPy can be a promising material for post combustion carbon capture.

Demonstration of CO2 Capture Process Monitoring and Solvent Degradation Detection by Chemometrics at the Technology Centre Mongstad CO2 Capture Plant

Solvent management is one of the important current challenges in post combustion carbon capture (PCC) technology development. Using large-scale 1960 h test campaign data (Technology Centre Mongstad, Norway, 2015 MEA Test), we demonstrate a combination of multivariate methods (PLS-R, MSPC) and process analytical spectroscopy (FT-IR) as a tool to monitor and control PCC process performance. Two MEA solvent monitoring models, total inorganic carbon (TIC) content and total alkalinity (TA), were prepared. In long-term solvent monitoring, PLS-R model prediction uncertainty increased due to gradual solvent changes, e.g., solvent degradation and impurity accumulation. Hence, we show a specific model update methodology to keep the models updated, leading to good long-term monitoring ability of the TIC and TA models. In addition to reliable long-term solvent monitoring ability, a new principle for follow-up of thermal solvent reclaiming was demonstrated. This shows that the need for solvent reclaiming can be quantified. Furthermore, this methodology is an indicator to see the actual solvent deviation from the fresh solvent. This quantification may provide an input for “start” and “end of reclaiming operation” identification. Hence, we demonstrate that it is possible to extract information for process performance follow-up, solvent monitoring, and solvent reclaiming from a single spectroscopic instrument.

Modeling of hollow fiber facilitated transport membrane modules for post combustion carbon capture process: Evaluation of non-ideal effect and module characteristic

Membrane separation technology has been regarded as a promising alternative for carbon capture process due to its low consumption and low footprint. Facilitated transported membranes exhibit attractive CO2/N2 separation performance due to the existence of CO2-philic reactive carriers. However, the highly pressure and temperature dependent CO2 permeance of it, as well as non-ideal effect, make the simulation of carbon capture process based on simplifying model challenging. Herein, we established a rigorous model for hollow fiber facilitated transport membrane considering both non-ideal effect and variable permeance. This rigorous model was applied for post-combustion carbon capture, and compared with simple model which only considering variable permeance. It was found that rigorous model has a 44%-55% lower carbon capture capacity due to the declined driving force and permeance. Pressure loss accounts for the deviation at low stage cut (10%), while Joule-Thomson effect and concentration polarization effect become greater at high stage cut (20%). Thanks to the mild condition of post combustion flue gas, the impact of real gas behavior can be neglected. Moreover, the attractive configuration of hollow fiber facilitated transport membrane was found to be with relative short fiber length, moderate packing fraction and large fiber inner diameter.

Conclusions from 3 years of continuous capture plant operation without exchange of the AMP/PZ-based solvent at Niederaussem – insights into solvent degradation management

A many times heard mantra of solvent degradation management in amine-based post combustion capture is “keep the solvent clean” to minimize solvent consumption. It is assumed that the amine losses would decrease by the removal of metals, degradation products, and reactive trace components which are captured from the flue gas, like NO2 (as potentially driving components of the amine degradation besides dissolved O2). However, this theoretical hypothesis – based on results from laboratory experiments typically generated with fresh amines – disregards the complexity of the solvent matrix, interaction of potential metal catalysts with degradation products and oxidizing agents, and specific chemical requirements which must be fulfilled before a degradation mechanism can proceed. Degradation of the solvent CESAR1 (aqueous solution of 3.0 molar 2-amino-2-methylpropan-1-ol (AMP) and 1.5 molar piperazine (PZ)) is investigated in a unique long-time test campaign (testing time up to now 40 months; 24/7 operation) without replacement of the solvent inventory at the capture pilot plant at the lignite-fired power plant in Niederaussem. Three solvent management strategies with different effect mechanisms are investigated and evaluated: (a) removal of only anionic compounds and trace elements (within 75 days solvent inventory treated two times) and anionic as well as cationic compounds and trace elements (114 days, inventory treated four times) from the solvent by ion exchange, (b) adsorptive removal of trace elements from the solvent by active carbon in 35% of the operating time, and (c) removal of >80% NO2 by flue gas pretreatment with thiosulfate/sulfite solution (dosing for 2,000 h). The results of the testing program clearly show that “solvent cleanliness” is not a well-defined parameter and that results from laboratory tests, tests without fully representative industrial flue gasses, and short-term testing of monoethanolamine cannot be generalized for other solvents and industrial application. These results showcase that specific degradation management considering solvent, capture plant and flue gas quality is reasonable. Overshooting efforts for solvent management are contra-productive and produce unnecessary waste streams, efficiency losses and costs.

Metakaolin-based geopolymer – Zeolite NaA composites as CO2 adsorbents

In this work, three metakaolin-based geopolymer matrices were prepared, varying the molar ratio Si:Al (2.0 or 1.2) and the type of cation (sodium or potassium). Starting from these matrices, geopolymer-zeolite composites were synthesized and consolidated (80 °C), incorporating a commercial sodium-based zeolite, Na4A, with the aim of producing post combustion CO2 adsorbents, since the presence of Na4A crystalline phase is desirable due to its known remarkable CO2 adsorption capacity.The sodium-based geopolymer matrix with Si:Al = 1.2 allowed the in situ nucleation of the zeolite NaA, therefore this matrix was added with different amount of synthetic zeolite Na4A to verify the total conversion of the matrix into zeolite NaA, in view of an alternative low-cost synthesis method to obtain zeolite NaA as a “solid” in a complex form.The composites were deeply characterized and lastly tested for CO2 adsorption. The geopolymer matrices act as binders allowing the shaping of zeolite and producing functional composites with mutable chemical composition, microstructure and porosity according to the starting composition. The sodium-based geopolymer zeolite composite was the best performing in term of CO2 adsorption capacity being 1.0 mmol g−1 at 0.1 bar, nearly equivalent to synthetic zeolite Na4A (1.2 mmol g−1) and close to pure zeolite Na13X (1.4 mmol g−1), the current benchmark material for carbon capture application.

On the Importance of Model Selection for CFD Analysis of High Temperature Gas-Solid Reactive Flow; Case Study: Post Combustion Chamber of HIsarna Off-Gas System

In this paper a CFD analysis of HIsarna off-gas system for post combustion of CO-H2-carbon particle mixture is presented to evaluate the effect of different sub-models and parameters on the accuracy of predictions and simulation time. The effects of different mesh type, mesh grid size, radiation models, turbulent models, kinetic mechanism, turbulence chemistry interaction models, including and excluding gas-solid reactions, number of reactive solid particles are investigated in detail. Based on the accuracy of the predictions and agreement with counterpart measured values, the best combination is selected and conclusions are derived. It was found that radiation and turbulence chemistry interaction model have a major effect on the temperature and composition profile prediction along the studied off-gas system, compared to the variations in other models. The effect of these two models becomes even more evident when the temperature and fuel content of the flue gas are high.

Incorporation of market signals for the optimal design of post combustion carbon capture systems

Recent studies have shown that fossil generators equipped with post-combustion carbon capture (PCC) systems are needed to reduce the cost of deep decarbonization. Such generators need to be flexible and responsive to grid conditions, particularly in a high variable renewable energy (VRE) environment. In this work, we evaluate the net present value (NPV) of retrofitting an existing natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) unit with a flexible PCC system while incorporating market signals from a high VRE grid. We use our industrial partner’s NGCC configuration as representative of existing NGCC units and Svante’s rapid-temperature swing adsorption (TSA) for PCC. Because of its ability to rapidly startup/shutdown and ramp-up/ramp-down, the chosen capture technology is very attractive for load-following operations. For a given set of market signals, we formulate a two-stage stochastic multi-period optimization problem, under the price-taker assumption, to simultaneously optimize the design of the capture system and operation of the entire plant. Rigorous models for the NGCC unit, PCC system, and compression system are developed using commercial process simulators and validated with either plant or vendor data. For computational tractability, we develop surrogate/reduced-order models for use in the optimization problem. The surrogate model for the NGCC plant is constructed by linearizing the rigorous dynamic model at 75% load, while data-driven nonlinear surrogate models for the capture and compression systems are constructed using simulation data from the rigorous models. The optimization problem, formulated as a mixed integer bilinear program, is implemented in the IDAES® integrated platform and solved to global optimality using Gurobi 9.5. Using this formulation, we determine the profitability of retrofitting an existing NGCC unit with the chosen capture system for multiple regions in the U.S. under two scenarios with different carbon prices. The results show that the optimal decision strongly depends on the region and on the carbon price, thereby demonstrating the importance of the inclusion of market signals in the design process.

Experimental and numerical study on the performances of a free-piston engine generator using ammonia and methane fuel mixtures

In this paper, experimental and numerical studies of the methane-ammonia dual-fuel glow-ignition free-piston engine generator (FPEG) are carried out, with emphasis on its operation stability, performance and combustion characteristics. The ammonia in FPEG operates at different energy substitution rates (ESRs), including 100 %CH4, 90 %CH4+10 %NH3, 80 %CH4+20 %NH3, and 70 %CH4+30 %NH3. The experimental results show that the FPEG can achieve stable operation in the methane/ammonia dual-fuel combustion mode. However, the operation stability of the FPEG becomes worse with the increase of the ESR. Especially when ESR = 30 %, engine shutdown accident will occur due to the high cycle-to-cycle variation caused by ignition delay. The peak pressure and heat release rate (HRR) decrease significantly because the additive ammonia weakens the combustion activity and reduces the combustion rate of mixture. In the case of pure methane, the indicated power and indicated thermal efficiency reach 319 W and 11.33 %, respectively. However, when ESR = 10 %, 20 % and 30 %, the corresponding values decrease significantly to 210 W, 7.48 %, 189 W, 6.72 % and 139 W, 4.95 %, respectively. The high-speed flame images show that with the increase of ESR, the flame structure becomes less wrinkled, because the addition of ammonia reduces the flame speed and weakens the combustion reaction, leading to the weakening of turbulent combustion intensity. In addition, the ammonia addition will also lead to post combustion phenomenon. The simulation results show that the start of combustion (SOC) is delayed and the crank angle (CA) 0–10 and CA10-50 are prolonged with the increase of ESR, because the ammonia addition reduces the amount of key radical, such as OH and H, which reduces the mixture reaction rate. The NOx emission decreases with the increase of ESR due to the low combustion temperature. Soot emissions from the pure methane remain extremely low, and the CO emissions gradually increase with the increase of ESR due to the incomplete combustion of mixture. In addition, the amount of unburned ammonia increases with the increase of ESR.

Special issue on “Optimal design and operation of energy systems”

Special issue on “Optimal design and operation of energy systems”

Molten salt-mediated carbon capture and conversion

The post-combustion capture is a promising technology to reduce industrial CO2 emission. This review articles concluded the recent advances in molten salt strategies for CO2 capture and conversion. In terms of CO2 capture, MgO-based sorbents can efficiently capture CO2 through a reversible carbonation/calcination reaction at intermediate temperatures (300–500 °C). The addition of alkali metal molten salt to MgO-based sorbents can greatly promote the CO2 uptake, which are promising candidates applied in the post combustion CO2 capture technology. Besides, molten salts such as ZnCl2/NaCl can be served as both activating agents and templates for synthesis of porous carbons from biomass and plastics. Particularly, N-doped porous carbons with highly microporous structures are more suitable for CO2 capture under ambient conditions. In terms of CO2 conversion, the electrochemical reduction in molten salts has been widely developed for producing carbon materials and fuels. Additionally, molten salts (normally single and mixed alkali metal carbonates) acting as both catalysts and heat transfer mediums can enhance the CO2 gasification of carbon feedstocks to produce CO-rich syngas. A significant challenge in the CO2 gasification of biomass/coal and their chars in molten alkali metal carbonates is the potential agglomeration between alkali metal species and minerals in the ash under high temperatures. To achieve sorbents regeneration and CO2 utilization, it is strongly recommended that more further researches should be performed on the integrated CO2 capture and in-situ electro-/thermo-chemical conversion processes for selectively production of high-value chemicals and fuels, which can alleviate the crisis of fossil fuels shortage and reduce the greenhouse gas emission.

Use of copper carbonate as corrosion inhibitor for carbon steel in post combustion carbon capture

The realisation of post-combustion CO2 capture (PCCC) at industrial scale remains limited; one challenge is the concerns around capital costs and another concern is corrosion of the system itself. Corrosion resistance and mitigation against the amine solvent monoethanolamine (MEA) was studied, using the inhibitor copper (II) carbonate basic (CC). Carbon steel (C1018) was tested in CO2 loaded, 5M aqueous MEA solution, alone and in the presence of CC, to assess the corrosivity of the solution. Immersion testing used mass loss, Fe and Cu ion concentration in solution via ICP-MS, imaging (SEM) and analytical techniques (XRD and EDX) to investigate the effect of corrosion. Generally, the use of CC improved C1018 corrosion resistance relative to C1018 alone. Even at low concentrations (0.9 mM), CC was effective in inhibiting corrosion against CO2 loaded MEA, as the observed corrosion rate was effectively zero and no dissolved Fe was detected in solution. There was no evidence of copper surface adsorption. To clarify the solution chemistry resulting in corrosion inhibition, the local chemical environment of Fe and Cu were probed by Cu and Fe K-edge X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, respectively. The Cu K- edge HERFD-XANES spectra reveal that a Cu2+ amine complex forms, critical to understanding the structure which is promoting significant corrosion inhibition.