Monitoring and diagnosis of ammonia emissions from the post-combustion carbon dioxide capture process system: an automated approach

Climate change occurs as a result of absorption of infrared radiation which heats the atmosphere. Greenhouse gas emissions can increase the earth’s average temperatures since the majority of greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2). Fossil fuels have historically played a major role as the world’s primary source of energy and will continue to assume that role for at least the next few decades. However, in the process of generating energy, fossil fuels emit a substantial amount of CO2 and other gases. Hence, the carbon dioxide capture technology has become an important approach for ensuring reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation plants. While many solvents are useful for capturing CO2, the amine is a comprehensive chemical solvent that has often been used in the post-combustion carbon capture process. The amine-based CO2 capture process emits substances such as ammonia and alcohol during the amine degradation process. Since the primary gas emitted is ammonia (NH3), which can be hazardous for human health and contribute to acidification of air, soil and water, it is necessary to monitor the gaseous emissions from the amine-based carbon capture process (Thitakamol et al., 2006). The expert system (ES) for Monitoring and Diagnosis of AMmonia emissions in the CO2 Capture System (ESMDAM) has been built for this purpose. The system can help by providing decision support to the operator so