Carbon dioxide is absorbed in many processes, for different reasons.

In the production of biogas or synthetic natural gas (SNG) from biomass, it is necessary to upgrade the gas produced by removing carbon dioxide, in order to obtain a product of sufficient purity for use as transportation fuel or for injection into a natural gas network. In the chemical industry, it is often necessary to remove CO2 from gas streams, for example, in oil refineries and in the production of ethylene oxide. Carbon dioxide may also be removed for carbon capture and storage (CCS).

The absorption of carbon dioxide is an energy-demanding process. The greatest energy requirement is in the regeneration of the absorption solution, which often takes place at high temperature (>120°C). A number of processes could thus be made more energy- and cost-effective by reducing the energy demand of the absorption process.

Research on the absorption of carbon dioxide at the department focuses on the development of new systems in which the absorption solution can be regenerated at lower temperatures (70-90°C), thus reducing the energy demand. This also makes it possible to use excess heat from the process, which reduces the energy demand even further. Research is also being carried out on existing CO2 adsorption systems with the aim of modifying the process so that it is less energy-demanding.