Aqueous amine technologies are considered the benchmark for solvent-based CO2 separations from post-combustion gas streams. The US Department of Energy's office of Fossil Energy (FE) is focusing development of a diverse mix of solvent systems at various stages of development to minimize greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion. The most mature and widely studied solvent classes are the aqueous amine solvents, which are defined as "first generation" solvent systems. These solvents, while effective for treating global flue gas sources, the energy requirements are prohibitively costly by FE estimates. Other solvent classes in development in FE's portfolio that are less mature, and less studied, include second-generation solvents such as advanced amines. The last solvent class in the portfolio is defined as "transformational" solvent systems, which are primarily studied at the laboratory scale.
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