Solar-assisted Post-combustion Carbon Capture Research Articles

Carbon Capture and Storage Using Renewable Energy Sources: A Review

The world is undergoing a population explosion; urbanization has also taken giant leaps with higher standards of people. It is noted that the supply and the demand for energy have not been in correlation with one another, as around. When the supply of energy is scaled up, there will large amounts of emissions released from the power plants. Therefore, it is important to focus on capturing and storage of harmful greenhouse gas emissions, using renewable energy resources, so that emission mitigation can be made in an efficient and economically feasible way. The pragmatic analysis of solar-assisted post-combustion carbon capture (SPCC) has been reviewed upon, where the energy compensation of a coal-fired plant due to regeneration of absorbent has been scrutinized. It is also been compared with the integration of geothermal energy (GTCC) for carbon capture. In the adsorption process, various techno-economic analysis of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) integrating solar-assisted temperature swing adsorption has been reported along with the effect of absorbent material in pressure-temperature swing adsorption for CO2 capture. Assessment of solar-assisted CCS are also been accomplished by adopting pliable thinking on the energy system. Finally, the integration with solar thermal power plant using novel Sodium Carbonate as a solvent is discussed. Thus, several parts of the CCS system have been construed with renewable energy towards the goal of zero-emission power generation, which seems highly impossible, can be harnessed by 2050

Tailored solar field and solvent storage for direct solvent regeneration: A novel approach to solarise carbon capture technology

For effective greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction, solvent-based post-combustion carbon capture (PCC) is the most recognized remedy option worldwide. Due to the very high thermal energy demand of this technology and the potential impact on the power production, solar-assisted PCC (SPCC) was proposed to offset part of this energy penalty. However this option is far from commercialization readiness, because of the solar intermittence and the costly thermal energy storage (TES).This paper promotes a dynamic carbon capture using innovative solar collector field (SCF). By eliminating the complex and costly stripper/s from the conventional PCC, we propose regenerating the solvent directly in the SCF and proportionally to the solar thermal energy gain. We also propose an underground solvent storage system instead of TES to buffer in-between the dynamic solvent regeneration via SCF and the steady-state absorption process in the absorber/s. For capturing 1.5 million tonneCO2/y from a 660 MWe coal-fired power plant in three representative locations in Australia, it is found that the equivalent annual cost of desorption is quite reasonable, particularly at higher solar multiples (SM). For SM = 1.5, the levelized cost of desorption is the lowest in Townsville ($ 12.34 per tonneCO2), followed by Sydney ($16.31 per tonneCO2), while Melbourne would need larger SCF (SM = 2.0) to lower the levelized cost of desorption ($ 22.52 per tonneCO2). These costs are calculated irrespective of the credits gained from steam preservation for power production and the resulted positive impact on the overall life cycle analysis. Noting the trajectory trend of GHG reduction cost, this novel approach in solarising carbon capture may bring SPCC to the competitive advantage in short/mid-term.

Techno-economic analysis of solar-assisted post-combustion carbon capture to a pilot cogeneration system in Mexico

This research evaluates the integration of solar-assisted post-combustion carbon capture into an experimental cogeneration system. A cogeneration system modelled in Thermoflex 25® that includes a 200 kW Capstone microturbine coupled with a thermal oil recovery system was installed at the National Institute of Electricity and Clean Energies (INEEL). Three optimized systems were considered for the economic analysis, namely: a microturbine cogeneration system (COGEN), a microturbine cogeneration system with post-combustion carbon capture plant (COGEN-CCS) and a microturbine cogeneration system with solar-assisted post-combustion carbon capture (COGEN-CCS + SOLAR). The cogeneration system was modelled using Natural Gas (NG) as fuel, applying characteristics typical of Mexico, to obtain the composition of exhaust gas (EG), and thus simulate the CO2 capture system in Aspen Hysys V8.6® using monoethanolamine (MEA) as solvent. Results show that the implementation of CCS results in a sizeable increase in the Levelized Cost Of Electricity (LCOE) (approximately 86%) with near-zero emissions and without the possibility of supplying energy to the process. In addition COGEN-CCS + SOLAR improves overall system performance. CO2 emissions per kilowatt increased by 0.2% with regard to COGEN-CCS, while the LCOE increased by 230% compared to the COGEN case, with near-zero emissions. The use of solar energy would help increase the cogeneration efficiency when coupled with CO2 capture.

Integrating geothermal into coal-fired power plant with carbon capture: A comparative study with solar energy

A new system integrating geothermal energy into post-combustion carbon capture is proposed in this paper. Geothermal energy at medium temperatures is used to provide the required thermal heat for solvent regeneration. The performance of this system is compared with solar assisted carbon capture plant via technical and economic evaluation. A 300 MWe coal-fired power plant is selected as the reference case, and two different locations based on the local climatic conditions and geothermal resources are chosen for the comparison. The results show that the geothermal assisted post-combustion carbon capture plant has better performances than the solar assisted one in term of the net power output and annual electricity generation. The net plant average efficiency based on lower heating value can be increased by 2.75% with a thermal load fraction of about 41%. Results of economic assessment show that the proposed geothermal assisted post-combustion carbon capture system has lower levelized costs of electricity and cost of carbon dioxide avoidance compared to the solar assisted post-combustion carbon capture plant. In order to achieve comparative advantages over the reference post-combustion carbon capture plant in both locations, the price of solar collector has to be lower than 70 USD/m2, and the drilling depth of the geothermal well shall be less than 2.1km.

Application potential of solar-assisted post-combustion carbon capture and storage (CCS) in China: A life cycle approach

Although post-combustion carbon capture (PCC) has been regarded as a near-commercial technology, the scale-up development of PCC the technology remains hindered by its severe thermodynamic and economic penalties. As a consequence, the solar-assisted carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is emerging recently, which poses a promising possibility to offset the power generation loss caused by the intensive energy consumption from PCC process. Nevertheless, the application potential of the solar-assisted CCS technology would highly depend on its realistic greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation benefit as well as its cost relative to alternative low carbon technologies. Thus, it is required to apply an improved assessment practice to recognize solutions for such sustainable power supply chains, considering an increasing threatening from climate change.In this study, solar-assisted post-combustion CCS processes are analyzed trough a life cycle approach, combing life cycle GHG assessment and life cycle cost analysis. A typical 300MWe coal-fired power plant in China is taken as the case study. Three scenarios are further analyzed: (1) base case integrated with CCS process; (2) base case integrated with CCS and solar-assisted reboiler heating process; (3) base case extended to CCS and solar-assisted repowering process. Results show that the solar-assisted repowering case has considerable advantage in both GHG mitigation potential and cost aspect with superior life cycle GHG reduction rate and life cycle cost of energy removed (LCOR) at 73.7% and 37.2$/tco2−eq respectively. While the solar-assisted reboiler heating case does not have evident competition superiority. It is further highlighted that the GHG emissions from the upstream and transportation stages are also critical for Chinese CCS chains.

A novel process for direct solvent regeneration via solar thermal energy for carbon capture

The energy for the solvent regeneration of post-combustion carbon capture (PCC) process is typically provided by steam bleeding from the power plant (PP) steam cycle. The energy penalty for steam bleeding results in serious reduction in the PP capacity estimated to be in the range of 10–40%. Power plant repowering or hybridization using solar-assisted PCC (SPCC) is a promising approach to satisfy carbon capture targets as well as PP load, concurrently. The drawback of this methodology is that notable amounts of solar energy are wasted during heat transfer from solar radiation to rich solvent.This paper presents a novel approach by eliminating the costly desorber system and using solar collector pipe (i.e. parabolic trough pipe) to directly heat the rich solvent and disassociate the bonds of CO2-solvent. This novel technology lowers the process capital expenditure, and also reduces the solvent regeneration energy bringing it close to its theoretical values. The elimination of the complex desorber column also increases the flexibility of the PP operation in response for market dynamics. A case-study for Sydney-Australia shows that in comparison with SPCC methodology, this state-of-the-art approach could notably improve the economics of the process and reduce the size of solar collector field (SCF).

Economic and policy evaluation of SPCC (solar-assisted post-combustion carbon capture) in Australia

This paper evaluates the economic feasibility of SPCC (solar-assisted post-combustion carbon capture) at a coal power plant near Sydney, Townsville and Melbourne for implementation in 2020. A review of Australia's carbon and renewable energy policy is performed first, after which the merits of application of each incentive for SPCC are compared. Incentives such as subsidies, preferential discount rate, carbon tax and RECs (renewable energy certificates) are evaluated. No single incentive on its own, and within reasonable limits, is able to provide a favourable economic performance for power plant based renewable powered CCS (carbon capture and storage). However, once the compounded effect of carbon tax and electricity price increase is taken into account, a carbon price as low as A$ 25/tonne-CO2 and a REC price as low as A$ 35/MWhe is able to produce a positive net benefit in Townsville, while a slightly higher carbon price and REC price is required for Sydney. Melbourne performs poorest amongst the three locations, where substantially higher incentives would be needed for economic feasibility. The level of incentives required for SPCC to become feasible are found to fall in the range of current Australian policy incentives accessible to renewable energy technologies for stand-alone power generation.

Experimental Study of Solar Assisted Post-combustion Carbon Capture

Solar-assisted post-combustion carbon capture system is studied to compensate the energy penalty of coal-fired plant due to absorbent regeneration. The system is highly integrated with the amine-based carbon capture process coupled with solar thermal sub-system. The dynamic performance is largely affected by the variations of parameters and the fluctuations in solar collectors. Anexperimental facilityof solar-assisted chemical absorptionpilot with two types of collectors (parabolic trough and linear Fresnel) was constructed in this study. The impacts on the absorbent regeneration performance were studied on the dynamic variation of the solar heat and the operating temperature of the reboiler. The results show that an optimum ration of liquid-to-gas of 2.5-3.0 was determined at the lowest of the required regeneration energy. The study suggests thata better understanding of the key parameters associated with both capture process as well as the solar assisted sub-system if of importance for the overall operation and control.

Flexible dynamic operation of solar-integrated power plant with solvent based post-combustion carbon capture (PCC) process

This paper examines flexible operation of solvent-based post-combustion carbon capture (PCC) for the reduction of power plant carbon emissions while minimizing revenue loss due to the reduced power plant electricity output. The study is conducted using a model superstructure enveloping three plants; a power plant, a PCC plant and a solar thermal field where the power plant and PCC plant are operated flexibly under the influence of hourly electricity market and weather conditions. Reduced (surrogate) models for the reboiler duty and auxiliary power requirement for the carbon capture plant are generated and applied to simulate and compare four cases, (A) power plant with PCC, (B) power plant with solar assisted PCC, (C) power plant with PCC and solar repowering – variable net electricity output and (D) power plant with PCC and solar repowering – fixed net electricity output. Such analyses are conducted under dynamic conditions including power plant part-load operation while varying the capture rate to optimize the revenue of the power plant. Each case was simulated with a lower carbon price of $25/tonne-CO2 and a higher price of $50/tonne-CO2. The comparison of cases B–D found that optimal revenue generation for case C can be up to 42% higher than that of solar-assisted PCC (case B). Case C is found to be the most profitable with the lowest carbon emissions intensity and is found to exhibit a constant capture rate for both carbon prices. The optimal revenue for case D is slightly lower than case C for the lower carbon price ($25/tonne-CO2) while it is considerably lower in the higher carbon price ($50/tonne-CO2) scenario. The highest revenue to electricity ratio is found to be for the case where solar repowering is used for power boosting. This study highlights the significant potential of dynamic flexible operation toward deeper reductions in carbon capture costs. This analysis is based on the presence of a carbon pricing scheme currently not present in the Australian market, but which could be realised in the future.

Techno-economic Study of Solar-assisted Post-combustion Carbon Capture System Integrated with Desalination

Solvent-based Post-combustion Carbon Capture (PCC), which can reduce CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants, is one of the most advanced mature Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies at present. Two problems limit its development. One is the output reduction of power plant due to the steam extraction from turbine. The other is a large amount of water consumption for the evaporation of the solution in the absorber and desorber.In this paper we propose an integrated system to reduce the steam extraction from turbine and to produce freshwater by using solar thermal energy. The new system produces more electricity and freshwater during the daytime, and uses the steam extraction to reduce CO2 emissions at night. A techno-economic feasibility study is performed as a case study for a 300 MWe coal-fired power plant assisted by solar desalination. As for the potential impact parameters, the local climatic conditions and CO2 capture rate are discussed. Low-cost collectors and desalting equipment would make the technology more cost-effective.

Potential for solar-assisted post-combustion carbon capture in Australia

A techno-economic analysis has been performed for a coal-fired power plant retrofitted with Solvent-based Post-combustion Carbon Capture (PCC) technology which is partially supplied with thermal energy by solar thermal collectors. The plant is compared with a generic PCC plant where all the thermal energy is provided by steam bled from the steam cycle. The individual merits of a suite of solar collector technologies which includes Flat Plate Collectors (FPCs), Compound Parabolic Collectors (CPCs), Linear Fresnel Collectors (LFCs), Evacuated Tube Collectors (ETCs) and Parabolic Trough Collectors (PTCs) to supply thermal energy for the PCC plant have been studied. The plant has been simulated for three different locations in Australia: Sydney, Townsville and Melbourne. The overall system consists of three subsystems: power plant, PCC plant and solar collector field. A base case scenario is studied in which there is no heat integration between the three subsystems and is compared to a system with heat integration. Additionally incentives such as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), carbon tax/credits and government subsidies have been added to the economic model and a sensitivity analysis performed for each scenario of incentives for all five solar collector technologies at the three locations. The ETC case performs best amongst solar collectors when the three subsystems have heat integration while PTCs perform best in the case with no heat integration. The best location for the solar-assisted PCC (SPCC) plant is Townsville. It was found that the addition of the solar field reduces the carbon tax in order to make carbon capture and storage viable in comparison with a conventional non-capturing coal fired plant.

Solar-assisted Post-combustion Carbon Capture feasibility study

Solvent-based Post-combustion Carbon Capture (PCC) is one of the promising technologies for reducing CO 2 emissions from existing fossil-fuel power plants due to ease of retrofitting. A significant obstacle in widely deploying this technology is the power plant output reduction (Output Power Penalty – OPP) due to the energy intensive CO 2 separation process. In this paper we propose and theoretically evaluate a system to reduce the OPP by providing part of the PCC energy input using solar thermal energy. It is hypothesized that reducing the OPP during the daytime coincides with peaks in wholesale electricity prices thus increasing the revenue stream for a solar-assisted PCC (SPCC) plant. The general framework for assessing and sizing an SPCC system is presented. A techno-economic assessment is performed as a case study for a 300 MW e pulverized coal power plant in New South Wales, Australia using actual weather and wholesale electricity price data. It is shown that the proposed technology can be economically viable for solar collector costs of US$100/m 2 at current retail electricity prices and optimal Solar load-Fraction (SF) of 22% (SF is the portion of solvent regeneration energy provided by solar energy). The convergence of increasing electricity prices and decreasing collector costs improves SPCC viability at higher SF.

99/02128 Development of and experience with a new generation of modern coal firing systems in a new high-efficiency combined heat and power station: Kaess, M. et al. Proc. Am. Power Conf., 1998, 60, (2), 626–630

This paper examines flexible operation of solvent-based post-combustion carbon capture (PCC) for the reduction of power plant carbon emissions while minimizing revenue loss due to the reduced power plant electricity output. The study is conducted using a model superstructure enveloping three plants; a power plant, a PCC plant and a solar thermal field where the power plant and PCC plant are operated flexibly under the influence of hourly electricity market and weather conditions. Reduced (surrogate) models for the reboiler duty and auxiliary power requirement for the carbon capture plant are generated and applied to simulate and compare four cases, (A) power plant with PCC, (B) power plant with solar assisted PCC, (C) power plant with PCC and solar repowering – variable net electricity output and (D) power plant with PCC and solar repowering – fixed net electricity output. Such analyses are conducted under dynamic conditions including power plant part-load operation while varying the capture rate to optimize the revenue of the power plant. Each case was simulated with a lower carbon price of $25/tonne-CO2 and a higher price of $50/tonne-CO2. The comparison of cases B–D found that optimal revenue generation for case C can be up to 42% higher than that of solar-assisted PCC (case B). Case C is found to be the most profitable with the lowest carbon emissions intensity and is found to exhibit a constant capture rate for both carbon prices. The optimal revenue for case D is slightly lower than case C for the lower carbon price ($25/tonne-CO2) while it is considerably lower in the higher carbon price ($50/tonne-CO2) scenario. The highest revenue to electricity ratio is found to be for the case where solar repowering is used for power boosting. This study highlights the significant potential of dynamic flexible operation toward deeper reductions in carbon capture costs. This analysis is based on the presence of a carbon pricing scheme currently not present in the Australian market, but which could be realised in the future.