Impact of Coal Quality on Post-combustion, Amine-Based CO2 Capture in Indian Coal Power Plants

Abstract

India has substantial reserves of low sulfur, low grade (high ash) coal, which provides a reliable, cheap baseload power, and hence, it is expected to continue to be a major energy source for the next few decades. But, the combustion of coal emits a huge amount of carbon dioxide (CO2), the most prominent greenhouse gas (GHG) which is responsible for climate change. Various CO2 mitigation techniques including carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) may be required in the future to reduce the greenhouse gas emission to the atmosphere. The quality of coal used in power plants could play an important role in the overall performance of CCS. The focus of this study is to investigate the impact of coal quality while implementing carbon capture (CC) system in the new supercritical coal-fired power plants in India. Supercritical pulverized coal (PC) plants with and without carbon capture (CC) and with different coal characteristics were simulated using integrated environmental control model (IECM). The impact of variation in the cost of coal and plant capacity factor on the viability of CC has also been assessed along with different policy strategies required toward the implementation of CCS in the country.