In order to reduce CO2 emissions from exhaust gases, a standard method is absorption in monoethanolamine (MEA) followed by desorption. An aim in earlier projects has been to find the process parameters which give the lowest combined investment and operating cost. The aim in this work is to calculate cost optimum process parameters and evaluate whether it is possible to perform automated cost estimation and optimization. Aspen HYSYS simulations of a standard amine based process for CO2 capture using an equilibrium based model have been performed in Aspen HYSYS version 10.0 using flue gas data from a cement plant. The capital cost of CO2 capture was estimated using equipment cost taken from Aspen In-plant and then using a detailed factor method. Operational cost was estimated from calculated electricity and heat consumption and maintenance based on estimated capital cost. Optimum temperature difference in the main heat exchanger was calculated to be 10-15 °C. This was found after one simulation for each temperature. Optimum column height was calculated with 12 stages (equivalent to 12 meter of structured packing) based on one simulation for each stage number. The cost of CO2 removal was 180 NOK (19 Euro in 2019)/ton CO2 for 85 % removal and 190 NOK (20 Euro)/ton CO2 for 90 % removal. The scope of the cost calculation is limited to the absorption and circulation system which is most important for parameter optimization. To obtain really automated calculations it is recommended to improve the robustness of the simulations. This may be achieved by making the material balances more accurate. It should in principle be possible to optimize e.g. the temperature difference in only one automated calculation. To optimize the height (number of stages) in the absorption column automatically, a way to update the number of stages during the simulations has to be found.