Scaling up 3D printed hybrid sorbents towards (cost) effective post-combustion CO2 capture: A multiscale study

Abstract

A 3D-printed sorbent containing polyethylene-imine and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (PEI-MWCNT) was studied for post-combustion carbon capture. In this work, the adsorbent was printed on a kg scale and characterized for CO2 adsorption through lab experiments. A 6-step VSA process was simulated using the lab data to capture CO2 from a representative 800 MW power plant. The adsorbent captured >70 % of the CO2 and 95 % CO2 purity was achieved. The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) was 130.2 $/MWh and the costs of CO2 captured and avoided were 80 and 100.12 $/tonne. However, a zeolite 13X-activated carbon (13X-AC) monolith achieved a lower LCOE of 118.1 $/MWh, with the captured and avoided costs being 63 and 78.4 $/tonne, respectively. The LCOE value for the 13X-AC monolith was 5.1 % lower than a reference-packed bed system with Zeolite 13X pellets. The corresponding cost values were lower by 9.1 % and 13.9 %, respectively for the costs of CO2 captured and avoided. The lab experiments on the PEI-MWCNT sorbent revealed that further work is necessary to improve the thermal stability and stability with long-term storage of the precursor paste.