Three pathways towards elimination of CO2 emissions from industrial plants that use hydrocarbon fuels

Abstract

Many industrial plants burn hydrocarbon fuels to generate electricity and high-temperature thermal energy required in their processes. This work proposes a novel system for generation of such thermal energy while eliminating CO2 emissions. The system produces electricity, thermal energy, methanol, and carbon black. Combined heat and power (CHP) unit generates high-temperature thermal energy and electricity required by the industrial plant; CO2 produced by CHP and by the plant itself is converted to methanol by using hydrogen produced via pyrolysis of methane, which has recently advanced to the first industrial scale plant. Thermal energy contained in the CHP flue gas replaces utility plant boilers or furnaces of the industrial plant (e.g. a refinery or a petrochemical plant). Two pathways are based on two different methane pyrolysis methods and CO2 removal via MEA absorption. The third pathway replaces MEA absorption with a novel in situ CO2 conversion reactor. Proposed pathways are examined as ways of eliminating CO2 emissions from a 5 million ton of crude oil per annum refinery. The study includes operational costs, capital costs, and material prices in USA, EU, and China. The results show that the proposed pathways are profitable for USA and EU, while for China they are not. The proposed pathways provide CO2 free energy generation from natural gas as an alternative to energy generation from either solar, wind or hydro energy sources. In addition, they enable capture and conversion of CO2 emissions from industrial process units.