Comparison of solvents for post-combustion capture of CO2 by chemical absorption

Post combustion absorption technologies represent one of the most commercially ready technologies for CO2 capture. Solvent selection is the critical consideration in post-combustion absorption capture technology. In order to compare the performance of different solvents, it is necessary to perform s...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kothandaraman, Anusha, Nord, Lars Olof, Bolland, Olav, Herzog, Howard J., McRae, Gregory J.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: Elsevier B.V. 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96382
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9814-8895
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9078-8484
Description
Summary:Post combustion absorption technologies represent one of the most commercially ready technologies for CO2 capture. Solvent selection is the critical consideration in post-combustion absorption capture technology. In order to compare the performance of different solvents, it is necessary to perform simulations on a consistent basis and perform a process analysis of the system. The focus of this work was to develop consistent simulations for MEA and K2CO3 systems in ASPEN. The simulations have been developed within the ASPEN RateSep framework and are valid for both natural gas and coal fired power plants. This paper describes the methodology of the simulations and some results from the two systems. The MEA base case was validated with reported values in literature. Potassium carbonate was found to be particularly useful for pressurized combustion and for CO2 removal from product gases of reforming of natural gas or coal.