Preventing Aerosol Emissions in a CO 2 Capture System: Combining Aerosol Formation Inhibition and Wet Electrostatic Precipitation.

Aerosol emission from the CO 2 capture system has raised great concern for causing solvent loss and serious environmental issues. Here, we propose a comprehensive method for reducing aerosol emissions in a CO 2 capture system under the synergy of aerosol formation inhibition and wet electrostatic precipitation. The gas-solvent temperature difference plays a vital role in aerosol formation, with aerosol emissions of 740.80 mg/m 3 at 50 K and 119.36 mg/m 3 at 0 K. Different effects of SO 2 and SO 3 on aerosol formation are also found in this research; the aerosol mass concentration could reach 2341.25 mg/m 3 at 20 ppm SO 3 and 681.01 mg/m 3 at 50 ppm SO 2 with different aerosol size distributions. After the CO 2 capture process, an aerosol removal efficiency of 98% can be realized by electrostatic precipitation under different CO 2 concentrations. Due to the high concentration of aerosols and aerosol space charge generated by SO 2 and SO 3 , the removal performance of the wet electrostatic precipitator decreases, resulting in a high aerosol emission concentration (up to 130.26 mg/m 3 ). Thus, a heat exchanger is installed before the electrostatic precipitation section to enhance aerosol growth and increase aerosol removal efficiency. Under the synergy of aerosol formation inhibition and electrostatic precipitation, an aerosol removal efficiency of 99% and emission concentrations lower than 5 mg/m 3 are achieved, contributing to global warming mitigation and environmental protection.