Patent ID: 8728209

Claim:
A method for reducing energy requirements of a CO 2 capture system, the method comprising: contacting a flue gas stream with a CO 2 lean absorbent stream in an absorber, thereby removing CO 2 from the flue gas and providing a CO 2 rich absorbent stream; heating a first portion of the CO 2 rich absorbent stream using heat from the CO 2 lean absorbent stream, and providing the heated first portion of the CO 2 rich absorbent stream to a regenerator; providing a second portion of the CO 2 rich absorbent stream to the regenerator, wherein the heated first portion is hotter than the second portion and the heated first portion is provided to the regenerator at a lower elevation in the regenerator relative to that of the second portion; separating a gaseous CO 2 from the heated first portion prior to providing the heated first portion to the regenerator; and compressing the gaseous CO 2 and providing the compressed gaseous CO 2 to the regenerator at a lower elevation in the regenerator relative to that of the liquid portion.