(272g) Cost Limits of Pressure-Vacuum Swing Adsorption for Post-Combustion CO2 Capture

The decarbonization of global energy and industrial sectors is necessary to achieve net-zero CO₂ emissions by 2050 and carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) is promising for mitigating CO₂ emissions from these sectors in both near-future and long-term. However, the attractiveness of CCS varies from industry to industry and depends on several factors such as CO₂ concentration, pressure, flow rates, system-level integration, etc. [1]. Among other CO₂ capture routes, post-combustion CO₂ capture can be easily retrofitted, making it a viable option in the near future. To this end, several separation processes based on solvents, adsorbents, membranes, etc., are currently being developed for post-combustion CO₂ capture in order to facilitate low-cost CCS implementation.

This study explores the cost limits of pressure-vacuum swing adsorption (PVSA) for post-combustion CO₂ capture. Based on a previously developed integrated techno-economic optimization framework [2], the lowest possible CO₂ capture costs (or cost limits) are determined by simultaneously probing the feature spaces of adsorbent properties and process design variables. The PVSA cost limits are obtained for different industrial flue gas CO₂ compositions and flow rates and are compared with benchmark solvent technology. For each of these feed compositions, the process operating conditions and adsorbent features are varied to identify the minimum cost of capture. This approach provides an estimate of the minimum cost achievable by a single-stage PVSA process. Additionally, the “ideally’’ desired adsorbent properties required to achieve the cost limits for each case are also identified and analyzed. The study shows that PVSA is unlikely to be competitive for low CO₂ compositions, while opportunities exist for gas streams with higher CO₂ composition.

References

[1] IPCC, IPCC Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage. Prepared by Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2005.

[2] Subraveti, S. G.; Roussanaly, S.; Anantharaman, R.; Riboldi, L.; Rajendran, A. Techno-economic assessment of optimised vacuum swing adsorption for post-combustion CO₂ capture from steam-methane reformer flue gas. Sep. Purif. Technol. 2021, 256, 117832.

Acknowledgements

This publication has been produced with support from the NCCS Centre, performed under the Norwegian research program Centres for Environment-friendly Energy Research (FME). The authors acknowledge the following partners for their funding contributions to the NCCS Centre: Aker Solutions, ANSALDO Energia, CoorsTek Membrane Sciences, Gassco, Equinor, KROHNE, Larvik Shipping, Lundin, Norcem, Norwegian Oil and Gas, Quad Geometrics, TOTAL, Vår Energi and the Research Council of Norway (257579/E20). Funding from Canada First Research Excellence Fund through University of Alberta Future Energy Systems is acknowledged.