On-line monitoring and controlling emissions in amine post combustion carbon capture: A field test

Abstract

The study presents pioneering on-line emission data from a PCCC (post combustion carbon capture) pilot plant of both inorganic and organic components measured using an extractive FTIR (Fourier Transform Infra Red) system. A comparison with other emission measurements allowed concluding that the system is suitable as research tool for investigating the effect of PCCC operational settings on amine emissions. However, it also showed that sampling and analysing single organic components in flue gases is difficult and more research is needed on this topic. Linking the operational data of the plant with the on-line emission data identified two important operational settings that control the amine emissions from a PCCC plant to a large extent: (i) flue gas temperature at the top of the absorber (downstream of the washing section) and (ii) flue gas temperature difference over the washing section. A positive correlation between NH3 emission and the O2 content entering the pilot plant suggests that oxidative degradation occurs. The study emphasizes the importance of a well-designed washing section (if necessary, multi stage) which will be able to reduce emissions to very low levels keeping in mind the lessons learned in this study with respect to its operational settings. Therefore, the knowledge obtained within this research project will be of great use for the future post combustion carbon capture demo and full-scale installations.