Assessment of Hybrid Solvent—Membrane Configurations for Post-Combustion CO2 Capture for Super-Critical Power Plants

Calin-Cristian Cormos,Ana-Maria Cormos,Letitia Petrescu,Cristian Dinca

doi:10.3390/en14165017

Calin-Cristian Cormos, Ana-Maria Cormos + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/en14165017

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Abstract

The reduction of fossil CO2 emissions from key relevant industrial processes represents an important environmental challenge to be considered. To enable large-scale deployment of low carbon technologies, a significant research and development effort is required to optimize the CO2 capture systems. This work assesses various hybrid solvent-membrane configurations for post-combustion decarbonization of coal-based super-critical power plants. As an illustrative chemical solvent, Methyl-Di-Ethanol-Amine was assessed. Various membrane unit locations were assessed (e.g., top absorber, before absorber using either compressor or vacuum pump). All investigated designs have a 1000 MW net power output with a 90% decarbonization ratio. Benchmark concepts with and without carbon capture using either reactive gas-liquid absorption or membrane separation technology were also evaluated to have a comparative assessment. Relevant evaluation tools (e.g., modeling, simulation, validation, thermal integration, etc.) were employed to assess the plant performance indicators. The integrated evaluation shows that one hybrid solvent-membrane configuration (membrane unit located at the top of absorption column) performs better in terms of increasing the overall net plant efficiency than the membrane-only case (by about 1.8 net percentage points). In addition, the purity of captured CO2 stream is higher for hybrid concepts than for membranes (99.9% vs. 96.3%). On the other hand, the chemical scrubbing concept has superior net energy efficiency than investigated hybrid configurations (by about 1.5–3.7 net percentage points).

Highlights

Reduction of fossil CO2 emissions from relevant large-scale industrial applications represents a significant global environmental challenge for the short to medium term to actively combat global warming and climate change [1]
This work assesses the potential of hybrid solvent-membrane systems to deliver better performance indicators than chemical scrubbing only or membrane technologies for decarbonization of coal-based super-critical power plants
Similar power plants with or without carbon capture were used as a benchmark

Summary

Introduction

Reduction of fossil CO2 emissions from relevant large-scale industrial applications represents a significant global environmental challenge for the short to medium term to actively combat global warming and climate change [1]. This important environmental task can be achieved by various technical methods for instance [2]: boosting the renewable sources of energy, increasing the energy efficiency of both production & utilization steps, large-scale implementation of low-carbon solutions, etc. In terms of decarbonization options, the Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) systems are foreseen to take an important role Along this line, an important global innovation effort is required for the identification of the most efficient and economic routes for decarbonization [4].

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