Point-source carbon capture conventionally relies on steam stripping to regenerate chemical solvents. The approach is effective, since boiling the solvent simultaneously supplies heat and promotes CO2 desorption, but it creates a dependence on high-grade thermal energy and limits integration with low-temperature heat sources. The authors argue that its widespread use should not be interpreted as evidence that high-temperature regeneration is the only viable pathway for CO2 release.
Examining solvent regeneration through the lens of energy quality and temperature-sensitive thermodynamic control variables, they connect observations across buffer systems, sterically hindered and tertiary amines, thermomorphic solvents and enzymatically assisted capture to a common underlying mechanism: temperature dependent acid - base equilibria and phase behaviour that enable equilibrium driven desorption without vaporisation, with carbonic anhydrase emerging as a kinetic enabler under mild conditions. Viewed through this lens, the steam barrier is revealed as one of multiple design options rather than a physical inevitability, opening pathways toward carbon capture systems that are compatible with low-grade heat and offer improved exergy efficiency.
Leandros Paschalidis, Kai Fabian Kruber, Simon Müller, Mirko Skiborowski (2026). The steam barrier as a design constraint in carbon capture: Pathways to low-temperature regeneration. Chem. Eng. Process. 227, 110917.
