Abstract
A CESAR1 solvent sample which had been subjected to a series of test campaigns with industrial flue gases was analysed for identified degradation compounds with newly developed analytical techniques. Before analysing the pilot sample, the degradation compounds of CESAR1 were identified in samples from laboratory scale oxidative and thermal degradation stress tests with aqueous 2-amino-2-methyl-propanol (AMP), piperazine (PZ) and the CESAR1 blend. Three new major degradation compounds, which have previously not been identified, were found among the ten most abundant degradation species. A total of 35 degradation compounds were found in the solvent sample, whereof 12 have not been previously identified neither in CESAR1 nor during degradation of AMP or PZ alone. By comparing the quantified solvent amines and degradation compounds with the total concentration of nitrogen in the sample, it was found that all major nitrogen containing degradation compounds are accounted for, and that the nitrogen containing species in the solvent have been identified and quantified within the analytical uncertainty. This contributes to closing one of the major knowledge gaps associated with CO2 capture operations with the CESAR1 solvent, which is a target of the Horizon Europe project AURORA.