Improved procedure for the evaluation of the operating suitability of an amine based process for CO2 removal of flue gases generated by coal-fired power plants

Abstract

Abstract The removal of carbon dioxide from gas with regenerative absorption and a chemically activated solvent is a well–known process in petroleum industry and natural gas sweetening. Due to the ambitious goals which were set worldwide to reduce the CO2, as one of the greenhouse gases, this process is discussed as one strategy for reducing the CO2 emissions of coal fired power plants, in context of Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS). Aqueous amine solutions can be used as solvents for these so called Post–Combustion–Capture (PCC) processes. The laboratory for environmental technology at the TU Dortmund develops a model, which enables an abbreviated procedure for the screening of diverse solvents. For this model, which can be used for technical applications, transient balances were solved with the help of the Laplace–transformation. The equations, which were derived, enable the steady–state examination of PCC–plants. Transient behaviour can be evaluated as impact of typical disturbances generated by the power plant. The model was validated with pilot plant tests results generated for Monoethanolamine (MEA) and Diglycolamine (DGA) at the Institute of Energy and Environmental Technology IUTA e.V. in Duisburg. The results of a MEA test campaign performed at the pilot plant in Esbjerg were also used to check the quality of the model. Additionally the transient results generated by the model were validated with the commercial software Aspen Plus Dynamics®.