CO2 capture feasibility by Temperature Swing Adsorption in heavy-duty engines from an energy perspective

Abstract

This study made an energy performance analysis and an estimate of the volume and weight of an innovative carbon capture and storage (CCS) system by temperature swing adsorption (TSA) hybridised with an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) working with the waste heat contained in the exhaust gases of a natural gas engine. To achieve this, two varying-sized engines are simulated across the entire rpm range and under partial engine loads. Subsequently, energy simulations are conducted at two CO2 capture rates (CCR) and employing three sorbents (MOF-74-Mg, PPN-6-CH2-DETA and activated carbon) to compare the CCS-ORC performance. Results demonstrate the viability of installing CCS-ORC systems in heavy-duty vehicles since they require less than 6 % of the total volume of the studied vehicles. The engine power penalty induced by the CCS-ORC system varies from 1.9 % with MOF-74-Mg to 23.5 % with activated carbon at 100 % of CCR, leading to a maximum 6.14 % rise in engine fuel consumption. Finally, the maximum CO2 capture process energy consumption is 631 kJ/kgCO2, 9.9 % lower than the literature reported for TSA. Based on these promising results, applying the hybridised system presented in this paper for CO2 capture in sectors that use heavy-duty engines is a strategy to implement.