Review of recent advances in carbon dioxide separation and capture

Abstract

This review provides a comprehensive assessment of recently improved carbon dioxide (CO2) separation and capture systems, used in power plants and other industrial processes. Different approaches for CO2 capture are pre-combustion, post-combustion capture, and oxy-combustion systems, which are reviewed, along with their advantages and disadvantages. New technologies and prospective “breakthrough technologies”, for instance: novel solvents, sorbents, and membranes for gas separation are examined. Other technologies including chemical looping technology (reaction between metal oxides and fuels, creating metal particles, carbon dioxide, and water vapor) and cryogenic separation processes (based on different phase change temperatures for various gases to separate them) are reviewed as well. Furthermore, the major CO2 separation technologies, such as absorption (using a liquid solvent to absorb the CO2), adsorption (using solid materials with surface affinity to CO2 molecules), and membranes (using a thin film to selectively permeate gases) are extensively discussed, though issues and technologies related to CO2 transport and storage are not considered in this paper.