Assessment of CO2 capture and storage from thermal power plants in Argentina

Abstract

This chapter explores two options of CO2 capture from natural gas combined cycles (NGCC) in Argentina. A high level assessment on sources to sinks matching was done taking into account the technology type, location, emissions and vintage of large stationary CO2 sources, and the characteristics of the local sedimentary basins. Based on the proximity of thermal power plants to geologic reservoirs with potential for sequestering large volumes of CO2, a NGCC was selected as reference plant for a case study concerning the conceptual design of post and pre-combustion capture facilities. This is the first assessment undertaken in Argentina on CO2 capture from thermal power plants. It focuses on capture since it is the main contribution to the abatement cost. The same hourly flow rate of natural gas was employed to design the associated post and pre-combustion facilities using today's best available technology. A monoethanolamine process was selected for post-combustion capture and a steam methane reformer coupled with a water-gas shift reactor for hydrogen generation in the pre-combustion facility. An extensive survey of published data and models concerning physical equilibria, kinetics, and heat transfer of the processes involved was conducted. Total capital investment for the pre-combustion unit was more than twice that of the post-combustion unit.