(203ak) Synthesis and Rigorous Design Of Solvent-Based Post-Combustion Carbon Capture (PCC) Processes

Despite recent progress in solvent-based Post-combustion Carbon Capture (PCC), the implementation of this technology in power plants still burdens a notable energy penalty mainly due to solvent regeneration. The energy penalty though varies by the type of power plant and by different techno-economic studies, is estimated to be above 20% (Khalilpour and Abbas, 2011). This results in serious reduction in power plant load.

The key parameters influencing the efficiency of PCC processes are solvent type, solvent concentration, configuration and operating conditions of absorption/desorption columns, percentage of CO2 avoided, captured CO2 purity and amount of regeneration. There is, however, notable lack in the literature in addressing detailed process sizing. This requires equation-based models to be available. This paper addresses our recent study on modelling, synthesis, and design of the entire PCC processes. Our design is also integrated with market data enforced by power plant operation. The outputs of this study include number of absorption/desorption column along with their length/diameter, optimal packing structure, operating condition (T, P) of columns, optimal rich/lean loadings and solvent/gas flowrates.