Microwave-accelerated regeneration of a non-aqueous slurry for energy-efficient carbon sequestration

We have developed a slurry of basic immobilized amine sorbent (BIAS) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) oil for a CO2 adsorption/desorption process aided by the Microwave-Accelerated Regeneration of a Slurry (MARS). Selective microwave heating of CO2-adsorbed BIAS can accelerate the CO2 desorption flux by 10 times and consume much less energy for sorbent regeneration, compared to thermal heating. Furthermore, the microwave regeneration temperatures of the slurry can be lowered to 65–85 °C. These results indicate that the microwave-accelerated swing method is highly energy-efficient, which can substantially decrease the energy penalty for CO2 capture and downscale the capture process, especially the regeneration equipment. The microwave-assisted non-aqueous capture technology without water and steam use can decrease the cooling duty by 18–48%, compared to the aqueous amine-based capture technology and promote decarbonization in a more sustainable manner.