NOVELTY - Removal of gaseous contaminants from a gas stream involves contacting the gas stream with a wash solution to remove gaseous contaminants from the gas stream by absorption into the wash solution; and regenerating the used wash solution to remove gaseous contaminants from the used wash solution, to provide a regenerated wash solution and a gas comprising removed contaminants. In a first regeneration stage the gas comprising removed contaminants is cooled to reduce the loss of water vapor from the regeneration step, thus reducing stripping energy.    USE - For removal of gaseous contaminants (including acidic gases such as CO2) from gas streams (particularly natural or flue gas stream) (claimed).    ADVANTAGE - In a first regeneration stage, the used wash solution cools the gas comprising removed contaminants to minimize water vapor loss. Such cooling provides reduction of water vapor loss from regeneration. This in turn enable recycling of the stripping heat back to the regeneration and reboiling steps in the form of condensed water. A larger degree of recycling of stripping heat provides for larger energy recycling to the hotter region of the process, which reduces the overall reboiler duty. The temperature differential between the beginning and the end of the regeneration step is increased as compared to conventional processes, which allows for improved stripping with limited water vapor loss.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is included for a gas purification system for removal of gaseous contaminants from a gas stream, comprising an absorber for receiving a gas stream comprising gaseous contaminants and contacting it with a wash solution; a regenerator for regenerating used wash solution by releasing gaseous contaminants from the wash solution; a reboiler for reboiling regenerated wash solution to release gaseous contaminants from the wash solution and for steam generation; a first heat-exchanger for heat transfer between a reboiled wash solution and a regenerated wash solution, where the heat-exchanger is arranged for receiving reboiled wash solution from the reboiler and for receiving regenerated wash solution from the regenerator; and a second heat-exchanger for heat transfer between a reboiled wash solution from the first heat-exchanger and used wash solution from the absorber, where the heat-exchanger is arranged for receiving used wash solution from the absorber and for receiving reboiled wash solution from the first heat-exchanger, where the absorber is arranged for receiving reboiled wash solution from the second heat-exchanger, the reboiler is arranged for receiving regenerated wash solution from the first heat-exchanger, and the regenerator is arranged for receiving used wash solution from the second heat-exchanger.