Techno-Economic Study on Non-Capture CO2Utilization Technology

Abstract

Techno-economic evaluation of Non-Capture CO2 Utilization (NCCU) technology for the production of high-value-added products using greenhouse gas (CO2) was performed. The general scheme of NCCU process is composed of CO2 carbonation and brine electrolysis process. Through a carbonation reaction with sodium hydroxide that is generated from brine electrolysis and CO2 of the flue gas, it is possible to get high-value-added products such as sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydroxide, hydrogen & chloride and also to reduce the CO2 emission simultaneously. For the techno-economic study on NCCU technology, continuous operation of bench-scale facility which could treat 2 kgCO2/day was performed. and based on the key performance data evaluated, the economic evaluation analysis targeted on the commercial chemical plant, which could treat 6 tons CO2 per day, was performed using the net present value (NPV) metrics. The results showed that the net profit obtained during the whole plant operation was about 7,890 mKRW (million Korean Won) on NPV metrics and annual CO2 reduction was estimated as about 2,000 tCO2. Also it was found that the energy consumption of brine electrolysis is one of the key factors which affect the plant operation cost (ex. electricity consumption) and the net profit of the plant. Based on these results, it could be deduced that NCCU technology of this study could be one of the cost-effective CO2 utilization technology options.