Dynamic modelling and analysis of post-combustion CO2 chemical absorption process for coal-fired power plants

Post-combustion capture by chemical absorption using MEA solvent remains the only commercial technology for large scale CO₂ capture for coal-fired power plants. This paper presents a study of the dynamic responses of a post-combustion CO₂ capture plant by modelling and simulation. Such a plant consists mainly of the absorber (where CO₂ is chemically absorbed) and the regenerator (where the chemical solvent is regenerated). Model development and validation are described followed by dynamic analysis of the absorber and regenerator columns linked together with recycle. The gPROMS (Process Systems Enterprise Ltd.) advanced process modelling environment has been used to implement the proposed work. The study gives insights into the operation of the absorber-regenerator combination with possible disturbances arising from integrated operation with a power generation plant. It is shown that the performance of the absorber is more sensitive to the molar L/G ratio than the actual flow rates of the liquid solvent and flue gas. In addition, the importance of appropriate water balance in the absorber column is shown. A step change of the reboiler duty indicates a slow response. A case involving the combination of two fundamental CO₂ capture technologies (the partial oxyfuel mode in the furnace and the post-combustion solvent scrubbing) is studied. The flue gas composition was altered to mimic that observed with the combination. There was an initial sharp decrease in CO₂ absorption level which may not be observed in steady-state simulations.     

Influence of process operating conditions on solvent thermal and oxidative degradation in post-combustion CO2 capture

The CO₂ post-combustion capture with amine solvents is modeled as a complex system interconnecting process energy consumption and solvent degradation and emission. Based on own experimental data, monoethanolamine degradation is included into a CO₂ capture process model. The influence of operating conditions on solvent loss is validated with pilot plant data from literature. Predicted solvent consumption rates are in better agreement with plant data than any previous work, and pathways are discussed to further refine the model. Oxidative degradation in the absorber is the largest cause of solvent loss while thermal degradation does not appear as a major concern. Using a single model, the process exergy requirement decreases by 10.8% and the solvent loss by 11.1% compared to our base case. As a result, this model provides a practical tool to simultaneously minimize the process energy requirement and the solvent consumption in post-combustion CO₂ capture plants with amine solvents.     

Recent progress of amine modified sorbents for capturing CO2 from flue gas

Under the Paris agreement, China has committed to reducing CO₂ emissions by 60%–65% per unit of GDP by 2030. Since CO₂ emissions from coal-fired power plants currently account for over 30% of the total carbon emissions in China, it will be necessary to mitigate at least some of these emissions to achieve this goal. Studies by the International Energy Agency (IEA) indicate CCS technology has the potential to contribute 14% of global emission reductions, followed by 40% of higher energy efficiency and 35% of renewable energy, which is considered as the most promising technology to significantly reduce carbon emissions for current coal-fired power plants. Moreover, the announcement of a Chinese national carbon trading market in late 2017 signals an opportunity for the commercial deployment of CO₂ capture technologies.Currently, the only commercially demonstrated technology for post-combustion CO₂ capture technology from power plants is solvent-based absorption. While commercially viable, the costs of deploying this technology are high. This has motivated efforts to develop more affordable alternatives, including advanced solvents, membranes, and sorbent capture systems. Of these approaches, advanced solvents have received the most attention in terms of research and demonstration. In contrast, sorbent capture technology has less attention, despite its potential for much lower energy consumption due to the absence of water in the sorbent. This paper reviews recent progress in the development of sorbent materials modified by amine functionalities with an emphasis on material characterization methods and the effects of operating conditions on performance. The main problems and challenges that need to be overcome to improve the competitiveness of sorbent-based capture technologies are discussed.     

Dynamic modelling of CO2 absorption for post combustion capture in coal-fired power plants

Power generation from fossil fuel-fired power plants is the largest single source of CO₂ emissions. Post combustion capture via chemical absorption is viewed as the most mature CO₂ capture technique. This paper presents a study of the post combustion CO₂ capture with monoethanolamine (MEA) based on dynamic modelling of the process. The aims of the project were to compare two different approaches (the equilibrium-based approach versus the rate-based approach) in modelling the absorber dynamically and to understand the dynamic behaviour of the absorber during part load operation and with disturbances from the stripper. A powerful modelling and simulation tool gPROMS was chosen to implement the proposed work. The study indicates that the rate-based model gives a better prediction of the chemical absorption process than the equilibrium-based model. The dynamic simulation of the absorber indicates normal absorber column operation could be maintained during part load operation by maintaining the ratio of the flow rates of the lean solvent and flue gas to the absorber. Disturbances in the CO₂ loading of the lean solvent to the absorber significantly affect absorber performance. Further work will extend the dynamic modelling to the stripper for whole plant analysis.     

Results from trialling aqueous NH3 based post-combustion capture in a pilot plant at Munmorah power station: Absorption

Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) and Delta Electricity have developed, commissioned and operated an A$7 million aqueous NH₃ based post-combustion capture (PCC) pilot plant at the Munmorah black coal fired power station in Australia. The results from the pilot plant trials will be used to address the gap in know-how on application of aqueous NH₃ for post-combustion capture of CO₂ and other pollutants in the flue gas and explore the potential of the NH₃ process for application in the Australia power sector. This paper is one of a series of publications to report and discuss the experimental results obtained from the pilot plant trials and primarily focuses on the absorption section.The pilot plant trials have confirmed the technical feasibility of the NH₃ based capture process. CO₂ removal efficiency of more than 85% can be achieved even with low NH₃ content of up to 6 wt%. The NH₃ process is effective for SO₂ but not for NO in the flue gas. More than 95% of SO₂ in the flue gas is removed in the pre-treatment column using NH₃. The mass transfer coefficients for CO₂ in the absorber as functions of CO₂ loading and NH₃ concentration have been obtained based on pilot plant data.     

Dynamic modeling of CO2 absorption from coal-fired power plants into an aqueous monoethanolamine solution

Among carbon capture and storage (CCS), the post-combustion capture of carbon dioxide (CO₂) by means of chemical absorption is actually the most developed process. Steady state process simulation turned out as a powerful tool for the design of such CO₂ scrubbers. Besides steady state modeling, transient process simulations deliver valuable information on the dynamic behavior of the system. Dynamic interactions of the power plant with the CO₂ separation plant can be described by such models. Within this work a dynamic process simulation model of the absorption unit of a CO₂ separation plant was developed. For describing the chemical absorption of CO₂ into an aqueous monoethanolamine solution a rate based approach was used. All models were developed within the Aspen Custom Modeler^® simulation environment. Thermo physical properties as well as transport properties were taken from the electrolyte non-random-two-liquid model provided by the Aspen Properties^® database. Within this work two simulation cases are presented. In a first simulation the inlet temperature of the flue gas and the lean solvent into the absorber column was changed. The results were validated by using experimental data from the CO₂SEPPL test rig located at the Dürnrohr power station. In a second simulation the flue gas flow to the separation plant was increased. Due to the unavailability of experimental data a validation of the results from the second simulation could not be achieved.     

On the integration of CO2 capture with coal-fired power plants: A methodology to assess and optimise solvent-based post-combustion capture systems

Amine and other liquid solvent CO₂ capture systems capture have historically been developed in the oil and gas industry with a different emphasis to that expected for fossil fuel power generation with post-combustion capture. These types of units are now being adapted for combustion flue gas scrubbing for which they need to be designed to operate at lower CO₂ removal rates - around 85-90% and to be integrated with CO₂ compression systems. They also need to be operated as part of a complete power plant with the overall objective of turning fuel into low-carbon electricity.The performance optimisation approach for solvents being considered for post-combustion capture in power generation therefore needs to be updated to take into account integration with the power cycle and the compression train. The most appropriate metric for solvent assessment is the overall penalty on electricity output, rather than simply the thermal energy of regeneration of the solvent used.Methodologies to evaluate solvent performance that have been reported in the literature are first reviewed. The results of the model of a steam power cycle integrated with the compression system focusing on key parameters of the post-combustion capture plant - solvent energy of regeneration, solvent regeneration temperature and desorber pressure - are then presented. The model includes a rigorous thermodynamic integration of the heat available in the capture and compression units into the power cycle for a range of different solvents, and shows that the electricity output penalty of steam extraction has a strong dependence on solvent thermal stability and the temperature available for heat recovery. A method is provided for assessing the overall electricity output penalty (EOP), expressed as total kWh of lost output per tonne of CO₂ captured including ancillary power and compression, for likely combinations of these three key post-combustion process parameters. This correlation provides a more representative method for comparing post-combustion capture technology options than the use of single parameters such as solvent heat of regeneration.     

Initial evaluation of the impact of post-combustion capture of carbon dioxide on supercritical pulverised coal power plant part load performance

Pulverised coal-fired plants often play an important role in electricity grids as mid-merit plants that can operate flexibly in response to changes in supply and demand. As a consequence, these plants are required to operate over a wide output range. This paper presents an initial evaluation of some potential impacts of adding post-combustion CO₂ capture on the part load performance of pulverised coal-fired plants. Preliminary results for ideal cases analysed using a simple high-level model indicate that post-combustion CO₂ capture could increase the options available to power plant operators. In particular, solvent storage could allow higher effective plant load factors to be achieved to assist with capital recovery while still permitting flexible operation for grid support. A number of areas for more detailed analysis are identified.     

Partial O2-fired coal power plant with post-combustion CO2 capture: A retrofitting option for CO2 capture ready plants

In the work presented in this paper, an alternative process concept that can be applied as retrofitting option in coal-fired power plants for CO₂ capture is examined. The proposed concept is based on the combination of two fundamental CO₂ capture technologies, the partial oxyfuel mode in the furnace and the post-combustion solvent scrubbing. A 330 MW_el Greek lignite-fired power plant and a typical 600 MW_el hard coal plant have been examined for the process simulations. In a retrofit application of the ECO-Scrub technology, the existing power plant modifications are dominated by techno-economic restrictions regarding the boiler and the steam turbine islands. Heat integration from processes (air separation, CO₂ compression and purification and the flue gas treatment) can result in reduced energy and efficiency penalties. In the context of this work, heat integration options are illustrated and main results from thermodynamic simulations dealing with the most important features of the power plant with CO₂ capture are presented for both reference and retrofit case, providing a comparative view on the power plant net efficiency and energy consumptions for CO₂ capture. The operational characteristics as well as the main figures and diagrams of the plant’s heat balances are included.     

A NGCC power plant with a CO2 post-combustion capture option. Optimal economics for different generation/capture goals

Fossil fuel power plants are one of the major sources of electricity generation, although invariably release greenhouse gases. Due to international treaties and countries regulations, CO₂ emissions reduction is increasingly becoming key in the generators’ economics. NGCC power plants constitute a widely used generation technology, from which CO₂ capture through a post-combustion and MEA absorption option constitutes a technological challenge due to the low concentration of pollutants in the flue gas and the high energy requirements of the sequestration process.     

Preliminary analysis of process flow sheet modifications for energy efficient CO2 capture from flue gases using chemical absorption

The energy penalty associated with solvent based capture of CO₂ from power station flue gases can be reduced by incorporating process flow sheet modifications into the standard process. A review of modifications suggested in the open and patent literature identified several options, primarily intended for use in the gas processing industry. It was not immediately clear whether these options would have the same benefits when applied to CO₂ capture from near atmospheric pressure combustion flue gases. Process flow sheet modifications, including split flow, rich split, vapour recompression, and inter-stage cooling, were therefore modelled using a commercial rate-based simulation package. The models were completed for a Queensland (Australia) based pilot plant running on 30% MEA as the solvent. The preliminary modelling results showed considerable benefits in reducing the energy penalty of capturing CO₂ from combustion flue gases. Further work will focus on optimising and validating the most relevant process flow sheet modifications in a pilot plant.     

Impact of liquid absorption process development on the costs of post-combustion capture in Australian coal-fired power stations

Australian power generators produce approximately 170 TWh per annum of electricity using black and brown coals that accounts for 170 Mtonne of CO₂ emissions per annum or over 40% of anthropogenic CO₂ emissions in Australia. This paper describes the results of a techno-economic evaluation of liquid absorption based post-combustion capture (PCC) processes for both existing and new pulverised coal-fired power stations in Australia. The overall process designs incorporate both the case with continuous capture and the case with the flexibility to switch a CO₂ capture plant on or off depending upon the demand and market price for electricity, and addresses the impact of the presently limited emission controls on the process cost. The techno-economic evaluation includes both air and water cooled power and CO₂ capture plants, resulting in cost of power generation for the situations without and with PCC. Whilst existing power plants in Australia are all water cooled sub-critical designs, the new power plants are deemed to range from supercritical single reheat to ultra-supercritical double reheat designs, with a preference for air-cooling. The process evaluation also includes a detailed sensitivity analysis of the thermodynamic properties of liquid absorbent for CO₂ on the overall costs. The results show that for a meaningful decrease in the efficiency and cost penalties associated with the post combustion CO₂ capture, a novel liquid sorbent will need to have heat of absorption/desorption, sensible heat and heat of vaporisation around 50% less in comparison with 30% (w/w) aqueous MEA solvent. It also shows that the impact of the capital costs of PCC processes is quite large on the added cost of generation. The results can be used to prioritise PCC research in an Australian context.     

Mature <Emphasis Type="Italic">versus</Emphasis> emerging technologies for CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> capture in power plants: Key open issues in post-combustion amine scrubbing and in chemical looping combustion

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) have acquired an increasing importance in the debate on global warming as a mean to decrease the environmental impact of energy conversion technologies, by capturing the CO₂ produced from the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation and industrial processes. In this respect, post-combustion systems have received great attention as a possible near-term CO₂ capture technology that can be retrofitted to existing power plants. This capture technology is, however, energy-intensive and results in large equipment sizes because of the large volumes of the flue gas to be treated. To cope with the demerits of other CCS technologies, the chemical looping combustion (CLC) process has been recently considered as a solution for CO₂ separation. It is typically referred to as a technology without energy penalty. Indeed, in CLC the fuel and the combustion air are never mixed and the gases from the oxidation of the fuel (i.e., CO₂ and H₂O) leave the system as a separate stream and can be separated by condensation of H₂O without any loss of energy. The key issue for the CLC process is to find a suitable oxygen carrier, which provides the fuel with the activated oxygen needed for combustion. The aim of this work is to explore the feasibility of using perovskites as oxygen carriers in CLC and to consider the possible advantages with respect to the scrubbing process with amines, a mature post-combustion technology for CO₂ separation.

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Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Gas,Oil, and Coal Power Plants in Pakistan by Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): A Review

The production of energy in Pakistan as a developing country mainly depends on consumption of fossil fuels, which are the main sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These emissions can be mitigated by implementing carbon capture and storage (CCS) in running plants. An overview of the current and future potentials of Pakistan for CCS is provided, indicating a great potential for this technology to capture CO₂ emissions. The amine CO₂ capture process as the most mature procedure is currently applied in many oil and gas companies in Pakistan, which can be employed to capture CO₂ from other industries as well. Pakistan has a great CO₂ storage potential in oil, gas, and coal fields and in saline aquifer as well as significant resources of Mg and Ca silicates suitable as feedstock in the carbon mineralization process. For further development and implementation of CCS technologies in Pakistan, economic and policy barriers as the main obstacles should be alleviated.     

Optimization of post-combustion CO2 process using DEA-MDEA mixtures

This paper presents optimal operating conditions for the post-combustion CO₂ capture process utilizing aqueous amine solutions obtained using a process simulator (HYSYS). Three alkanolamine solutions (Methyldiethanolamine MDEA, DiEthanolAmine DEA and MDEA-DEA mixture) are considered to study the performance of the capture process.The design problem addressed in this paper requires specifying the optimal operating conditions (inlet and outlet temperature of the lean solution stream on the absorber, CO₂ loading, amine composition and flow rates, among others) to achieve the given CO₂ emission targets at a minimum total annual cost. A detailed objective function including total operating costs and investment is considered.The influence of the variation of CO₂ reduction targets and the mixing proportion of amines on the total annual cost is analyzed in detail. Numerical results are presented and discussed using different case studies.The results demonstrate that process simulators can be used as a powerful tool not only to simulate but also to optimize the most important design parameters of the post-combustion CO₂ capture process.     

The calcium looping cycle for CO2 capture from power generation, cement manufacture and hydrogen production

Calcium looping is a CO₂ capture scheme using solid CaO-based sorbents to remove CO₂ from flue gases, e.g., from a power plant, producing a concentrated stream of CO₂ (∼95%) suitable for storage. The scheme exploits the reversible gas-solid reaction between CO₂ and CaO(s) to form CaCO₃(s). Calcium looping has a number of advantages compared to closer-to-market capture schemes, including: the use of circulating fluidised bed reactors—a mature technology at large scale; sorbent derived from cheap, abundant and environmentally benign limestone and dolomite precursors; and the relatively small efficiency penalty that it imposes on the power/industrial process (i.e., estimated at 6-8 percentage points, compared to 9.5-12.5 from amine-based post-combustion capture). A further advantage is the synergy with cement manufacture, which potentially allows for decarbonisation of both cement manufacture and power production. In addition, a number of advanced applications offer the potential for significant cost reductions in the production of hydrogen from fossil fuels coupled with CO₂ capture. The range of applications of calcium looping are discussed here, including the progress made towards demonstrating this technology as a viable post-combustion capture technology using small-pilot scale rigs, and the early progress towards a 2 MW scale demonstrator.     

Integration of a chemical process model in a power plant modelling tool for the simulation of an amine based CO2 scrubber

Post-combustion is considered among the different options for CO₂ capture as the most mature available technology. All major components of the CO₂ absorption/desorption process are commercially available but at a smaller scale, and they are not integrated and optimized for the application in power plants. Therefore, it is still to be demonstrated that this process is a viable option for the capture of CO₂ at power plants. The amine scrubbing process with standard solvents is highly energy demanding due to solvent regeneration and CO₂ compression. This is a significant energy sink for the power plant and efficiency can be reduced up to 16%-points. In order to minimise the energy penalty, complete integration and optimization of the capture and the power plant processes are necessary.Simulations of the power plant cycle and the amine scrubbing system have been performed with specialized software. The results of the integration are discussed.     

Modelling of an IGCC plant with carbon capture for 2020

Currently several industrial scale IGCC - carbon capture demonstration plants are being planned. Thermodynamic simulations are a useful tool to investigate the optimal plant configuration. In order to demonstrate the potential of the next generation of IGCC with CCS a thermodynamic model was developed using conventional but improved technology. The plant concept was verified and simulated for a generic hard coal and lignite. The simulation showed a net efficiency (LHV) of 38.5% and 41.9% for hard coal and lignite, respectively.The results are consistent with current studies but also indicate that major simulations were too optimistic. The auxiliary demand of an IGCC plant with carbon capture can be expected with 21 to 24% based on gross output. The drop in efficiency compared to the none-capture case is estimated with roughly 11 to 12%-points. During a sensitivity study the impact of process changes on plant efficiency and economics is evaluated. Releasing the captured CO₂ without compression is found to be economically favourable at CO₂ prices below 15 €/t and electricity prices above 100 €/MWh. Further the impact of carbon capture rate is quantified and an efficiency potential is indicated for lower CO₂ quality.     

Techno-economic evaluation of advanced IGCC lignite coal fuelled power plants with CO2 capture

The techno-economic evaluation of four novel integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants fuelled with low rank lignite coal with CO₂ capture facility has been investigated using ECLIPSE process simulator. The performance of the proposed plants was compared with two conventional IGCC plants with and without CO₂ capture. The proposed plants include an advanced CO₂ capturing process based on the Absorption Enhanced Reforming (AER) reaction and the regeneration of sorbent materials avoiding the need for sulphur removal component, shift reactor and/or a high temperature gas cleaning process. The results show that the proposed CO₂ capture plants efficiencies were 18.5–21% higher than the conventional IGCC CO₂ capture plant. For the proposed plants, the CO₂ capture efficiencies were found to be within 95.8–97%. The CO₂ capture efficiency for the conventional IGCC plant was 87.7%. The specific investment costs for the proposed plants were between 1207 and 1479 €/kW_e and 1620 €/kW_e and 1134 €/kW_e for the conventional plants with and without CO₂ capture respectively. Overall the proposed IGCC plants are cleaner, more efficient and produce electricity at cheaper price than the conventional IGCC process.     

Reduction of amine mist emissions from a pilot-scale CO2 capture process using charged colloidal gas aphrons

In the CO₂ capture process from coal-derived flue gas where amine solvents are used, the flue gas can entrain small liquid droplets into the gas stream leading to emission of the amine solvent. The entrained drops, or mist, will lead to high solvent losses and cause decreased CO₂ capture performance. In order to reduce the emissions of the fine amine droplets from CO₂ absorber, a novel method using charged colloidal gas aphron (CGA) generated by an anionic surfactant was developed. The CGA absorption process for MEA emission reduction was optimized by investigating the surfactant concentration, stirring speed of the CGA generator, and capture temperature. The results show a significant reduction of MEA emissions of over 50% in the flue gas stream exiting the absorber column of a pilot scale CO₂ capture unit.