Novel CO2-negative design of palm oil-based polygeneration systems

Abstract

A palm oil-based polygeneration system (POPS), which is a combination of a fixed bed hydrotreating reactor (FBHTR), a three-phase separator, and a series of cryogenic separators, is co-production process of green diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) named Design 1. The FBHTR model is validated by experiment data and its optimal operating parameters are determined by solving the response surface methodology-based optimization algorithm. Two CO2-negative designs for the POPS named Designs 2 and 3 adopt approaches of (i) the evacuated tube solar collector (ETSC) for reducing 35% flue gas from the furnace, (ii) the amine-based CO2 capture process coupling with pre- or post-separation system for producing the high-purity CO2 product, and (iii) the heat integration design for reducing the energy duties of hot/cold utilities. Design 2 is validated to achieve the maximum negative net CO2 emissions. Design 3 not only ensures the negative net CO2 emissions, but also it produces three high-purity products (98.3% green diesel, 100% LPG, and 99.9% CO2) simultaneously.