Abstract
Carbonate looping (CaL) has been shown to be less energy-intensive when compared to mature carbon capture technologies. Further reduction in the efficiency penalties can be achieved by employing a more efficient source of heat for the calcination process, instead of oxy-fuel combustion. In this study, a kW-scale solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)-integrated calciner was designed and developed to evaluate the technical feasibility of simultaneously generating power and driving the calcination process using the high-grade heat of the anode off-gas. Such a system can be integrated with CaL systems, or employed as a negative-emission technology, where the calcines are used to capture CO2 from the atmosphere. The demonstration unit consisted of a planar SOFC stack, operating at 750 °C, and a combined afterburner/calciner to combust hydrogen slip from the anode off-gas, and thermally decompose magnesite, dolomite, and limestone. The demonstrator generated up to 2 kWel,DC power, achieved a temperature in the range of 530–550 °C at the inlet of the afterburner, and up to 678 °C in the calciner, which was sufficient to demonstrate full calcination of magnesite, and partial calcination of dolomite. However, in order to achieve the temperature required for calcination of limestone, further scale-up and heat integration are needed. These results confirmed technical feasibility of the SOFC-calciner concept for production of calcined materials either for the market or for direct air capture (DAC).
Highlights
The recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stressed the necessity of limiting global average warming to 1.5 °C by 2100, compared to that of the pre-industrial level, to meet global climate ambitions and minimise the severe consequences of climate change [1]
A kW-scale solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)-integrated calciner was designed and constructed to explore the technical feasibility of simultaneous power generation and calcination of carbonates. Such a system can be regarded as an alternative for conventional calciners, where the required heat for the thermal decomposition of carbonates is provided by oxy-fuel combustion, and, can be used as a negativeemission technology for electricity generation, if the produced calcined materials are utilised for direct air capture
It was found that the temperature of the anode off-gas stream entering the afterburner/calciner was around 530–550 °C, at least 200 °C lower than the operating temperature of the stack (~750 °C)
Summary
The recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stressed the necessity of limiting global average warming to 1.5 °C by 2100, compared to that of the pre-industrial level, to meet global climate ambitions and minimise the severe consequences of climate change [1]. Intermittent renewables, namely wind and solar, are regarded as the key energy technologies in the power sector, in the short-to-medium term, the utilisation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) is inevitable [3]. Leading renewable technologies are associated with intermittent output, and in the absence of an efficient grid-scale energy storage technology, balancing the electricity demand and supply is challenging [4,5]. It is more likely that a combination of renewables, nuclear, and CCS will be deployed to reduce the carbon footprint in the power sector [6]. When CO2 is the by-product of industrial processes, it is indispensable to deploy CCS in order to mitigate the associated carbon emissions [8]
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