POST-COMBUSTION CARBON CAPTURE

TECHNOLOGY IN COAL POWER PLANTS USING

MEA: CASE STUDY LONGANNET COAL POWER
STATION.
BY
OKONKWO ALPHONSUS EMEKA

TO

THE NIGERIAN SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT

FOR CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP

SEPTEMBER, 2013

ATTESTATION
I certify that the work in this report was carried by Okonkwo Alphonsus Emeka
of Gas Division, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Warri, Delta
State.

Name of Supervisor

Membership No:

Signature:....

ii

Date:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
My profound gratitude to God Almighty through whom all things are made
possible. I wish to thank Engr. Elvis Duruji, Engr. Idiata, Engr M.T.H Williams
whose guidance, corrections and constructive criticism helped to set the right
frame for the knowledge expressed in this work.
My sincere gratitude goes to my beloved mother, Mrs. Winifred Okonkwo,
who has given me tremendous encouragement and support to become a
registered Engineer.
Finally, I wish to thank everyone who has touched my life positively in one
way or the other, in the course of this work and professional life, for want of
space, it may not be possible to mention all your names here but I do
sincerely appreciate and love you all.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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ATTESTATION
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .
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TABLE OF CONTENT
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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
LIST OF ABBREVIATION .
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ABSTRACT .
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.IV
.VI
VII
VIII

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

.1

1.1

BACKGROUND

.1

1.2

OBJECTIVES

.1

1.3

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

.1

.2

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1

WHAT IS CARBON CAPTURE?

.2

2.2

SEPARATION AND CAPTURE OF CO2

2.2.1 Chemical Absorption

.4

2.2.2 Physical Absorption

.4

2.2.3 Pressure/Temperature Swing Adsorption

.5

2.2.4 Cryogenic Separation

.5

2.2.5 Membrane Separation

.6

2.2.6 Biomimetic Approach

.6

2.2.7 Chemical Looping Combustion .

.6

2.3 THE CO2 CAPTURE TECHNOLOGIES/APPROACHES

.9

2.3.1 Post-combustion Capture Technology .

.9

2.3.1.1 Advantages of Post-Combustion Capture Technology

10

2.3.1.2 Limitations of Post-Combustion Capture Technology

11

2.3.2

Pre-combustion Capture Technology .

12

2.3.3

Oxy-fuel Combustion Capture Technology

12

2.4

CO2 TRANSPORTATION

14

2.4.1

Pipeline Transportation .

15

2.4.2

Ship, Road and Rail Transportation

15

2.5

CO2 STORAGE .

16

.
iv

2.5.1

Geological CO2 Storage .

16

CHAPTER THREEPROCESS DESCRIPTION

.17

.17

.17

CHAPTER FOUR DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

.21

CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION

.24

REFERENCES

.25

APPENDIX .

.27

3.1

PULVERISED COAL (PC) POWER PLANT

3.2

POST-COMBUSTION CAPTURE TECHNOLOGY IN PC

POWER PLANT (MEA BASED)

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure

Description

Page

2.1

Technology options for CO 2 separation . 3

2.2

The three major CO2 capture technologies ..13

3.1

Post combustion capture- solvent scrubbing

(Current Status) ....................................................19

3.2

Graphical representation of CO 2 avoided ...20

Table

Description

Page

2.1

Comparison of technology options for

CO2 separation ..... 7

2.2

Advantages and disadvantages of different CO 2

capture technologies 13

4.1

Summary for main recommendations ...22

vi

LIST OF ABBREVATIONS

CCS

Carbon capture and Storage

CO2

Carbon dioxide

COE

Cost of Electricity

DEA

Diethanolamine

EOR

Enhanced Oil Recovery

FGD

Flue Gas Desulphurization

GHG

Greenhouse Gases

H2

Hydrogen gas

IGCC

Integrated Gas Combined Cycle

MEA

Monoethanolamine

NOx

Nitrogen Oxide

PC

Pulverised Coal

SCR

Selective Catalytic Reduction

SOx

Sulphur Oxide

O2

Oxygen

vii

ABSTRACT

This work presented a comprehensive overview of post-combustion capture

technologies with respect to Longannet power station in Scotland, United
Kingdom, with a generating capacity of 2300MW. It analysed the operations of
the post-combustion capture facility and also assessed the CO 2 emissions
from the Longannet carbon capture facility, pointing out the amount of CO 2
captured, the amount of CO2 avoided and the amount CO 2 emitted, as against
a reference plant without a capture facility.
The study also identified the major challenges facing the use of amines in
post-combustion

carbon

capture

technology

and

provided

technologies with great potentials to overcome these challenges.

viii

promising

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a technology consisting of the
separation of CO2 from industrial and power plants, transport to a storage site
and long-term isolation from the atmosphere. The emission of CO2 occurs
when fossil fuels are used in power generation, transportation, domestic
heating, cooking and other industrial purposes. The capture of CO 2 became
necessary against the backdrop of rising trends in average atmospheric
temperature, which has been linked to the rising concentration of CO 2 in the
atmosphere, with its atmospheric concentration of 387ppm closing in on the
stabilisation level of 450ppm. Power generation stations are the greatest
sources of CO2 emission into the atmosphere and are good targets for the
application of this CO2 capture technology. This project will hence give a brief
and concise summary of the operations of post-combustion carbon capture
facility at Longannet power station.
1.2 Objectives
The aim of this study is to critically assess post-combustion capture
technology, using the facility at Longannet coal power station in Scotland as a
case study.
1.3 Significance of the Study.
The study evaluates the post-combustion carbon capture approach in a
pulverised coal power plant and assesses the amount of CO 2 captured, CO2
avoided and CO2 emitted from the 2300MW power plant with post-combustion
capture facility, as against a reference plant without a capture facility.
It examines the present challenges facing the development of postcombustion technology and tries to identify ways of improving its overall
efficiency through minimisation of energy requirement with respect to
pulverised coal power plant.
1

CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 What is Carbon Capture?
CCS is a well integrated system with three basic stages namely; capture from
a source, transport and storage. CO2 Capture refers to the sequestration of
carbon in form of CO2 from the other components in the flue gas or process
stream of a power plant or an industrial facility. CO 2 capture is a large process
and is best adapted to large point sources of CO 2 such as power stations,
large industrial plants and refineries. Dooley et al. (2006) defined a complete
end-to-end carbon capture and storage (CCS) system as a dedicated
assemblage of various technologies and components many of which

are

already used in other settings, working together to prevent CO 2 from entering

the atmosphere. Given the high level of reliance on fossil fuels to meet the
energy demands as was seen from the previous chapter, capturing CO 2 will
be a radical departure from conventional thinking about climate mitigation
which would require eliminating or strictly limiting the use of fossil fuels.
Hence this makes the process an attractive option as fossil fuels will continue
to be used without contributing immensely to greenhouse warming. Yang et
al. (2008) stated that the three major options to reduce total CO 2 emission are
to reduce energy intensity, carbon intensity and develop CCS. CCS is capable
of removing about 48GtCO 2, which is about 19% total emission reduction in
atmosphere needed by the year 2050 to stabilize the climate, if it is able to
overcome the problem of cost (IEA GHG, 2007).

2.2 Separation and Capture of CO2

The practice of separating CO 2 from flue gas streams started in the 1970s not
with concern about the climate change and global warming, but as a
potentially economic source of CO 2 mainly for food industry and enhanced oil
2

recovery (EOR) operations. The different separation methods can be

retrofitted to existing power generation plants or incorporated in the design of
new plants. Generally most of these technologies involve
Solvent wet scrubbing with a chemical or physical absorbent.
Solid dry scrubbing with a physical or chemical adsorbent.
Cryogenic separation methods
Membrane separation.
Enzymatic/Algae separation.
The choice of an appropriate technology depends on the properties of the flue
gas stream from which CO2 needs to be separated which in turn depends on
the power plant technology. Yang et al. (2008) noted that other factors like the
CO2 recovery, capital and operating costs, environmental impact, the partial
pressure of CO2 and sensitivity of the technology to other impurities and trace
elements. Some of these separation methods will be discussed briefly below.

Figure 2.1: Technology option for CO2 separation (Olajire, 2010)

2.2.1 Chemical Absorption

Absorption systems separate CO2 from the flue gas resulting from the
combustion of fossil fuel in air. These systems separate a component from a
flue gas stream by reacting with it. Chemical absorption refers to the process
by which the CO2 is absorbed into a solvent by the formation of a chemically
bonded compound. The fraction of CO 2 scrubbed in this process is between
12-15 vol/vol % from coal and 4 -8% for gas fired plants (IPCC, 2005). In
order to obtain a gas stream rich in CO2, the CO2 laden solvent is passed
through a regeneration unit. Upon heating the product, the bond between the
absorbent and CO2 will be broken, yielding a stream enriched in CO 2. Amines
are commonly used as solvents for chemical absorption processes. Those
with commercial interest for gas purification include monoethanolamine
(MEA), diathanolamine (DEA), and methydiethanolamine (MDEA) but for the
purpose of this work, monoethanolamine (MEA) will considered as a
reference case, especially as it regards to post-combustion technology. There
are other solvents like ammonia, amino acid salts and potassium carbonate
which have been gaining attention recently due to their advantages over MEA,
but these solvents will be discussed in subsequent chapters.
2.2.2 Physical Absorption
The use of inorganic or organic liquids to preferentially absorb a gaseous
component from a mixture is known as physical absorption. The absorption
liquid is produced by increasing the temperature of the absorbent or reducing
its pressure, with the overall process performance depending on operating
temperature, pressure, gas composition and absorption liquid. High pressure
conditions favour the use of this separation method, and hence a very efficient
technique for processing such high-pressure CO2 gas stream encountered in
integrated gasification combined cycle plants (Steeneveldt et al, 2006).
Kanniche et al. (2009) noted that physical solvents are more suitable for CO 2
partial pressure greater than 8 bars, while chemical solvents (for chemical
absorption) are for CO2 partial pressure less than 8 bars. Physical absorption
4

is mostly applied at commercial scale where CO 2 high concentration is

involved unlike the chemical absorption which is used for low CO 2
concentration.

Examples

of

physical

solvents

are

dimethylether

of

polypropylene glycol, chilled methanol, propylene carbonate, and are used for
Selexol, Rectisol and Fluor Carbonate physical absorption processes
respectively. Other physical solvents are the ionic liquids, although it also
finds its use recently in chemical absorption processes. These are salts which
have melting temperature below the boiling point of water and have high gas
absorption capacity. Ionic liquids will be discussed more in the next chapter.
2.2.3 Pressure/Temperature Swing Adsorption
The adsorption process is based on the same principle as absorption, but
using porous solid adsorbents such as zeolites and activated carbon, and
proceeds with or without chemical reaction between the adsorbent and CO 2.
The sorption and regeneration are accomplished by cyclic changes in the
vessel where solids are contained, and not by circulation between vessels like
in absorption separation. The driving force for the separation could either be
temperature (temperature swing adsorption) or pressure (pressure swing
adsorption).
2.2.4 Cryogenic Separation
The separation of a gaseous mixture is achieved by the initiation of a phase
change by cooling and condensing of the component that is to be separated,
and finally removing it as either a liquid or solid. This approach utilises the
benefit of different temperatures at which CO 2 and other components of flue
gas stream change from a liquid to gas or gas to liquid. Cryogenic separation
is a low temperature operation and well suited for streams with high
concentration of CO2 and reduces the use of chemicals, water consumption
and corrosive issues. Kanniche et al. (2009) noted that cryogenic separation
requires too much energy and is highly expensive when the amount of CO 2 in
the exhaust gases is very low and at atmospheric pressure.

2.2.5 Membrane Separation

The process for separating CO2 from the flue gases, using membrane/amine
hybrids processes. The membrane separates the gas components by acting
as a permeable or semi-permeable barrier through which one or more of the
gases in the mixture of gases moves faster than the others. The pressure
difference across the membrane is usually the driving force for the gas flow
through the membrane. As a result of this, they are often applied in high
pressure streams. Membranes like metallic, polymeric and ceramic are used
in CO2 capture facilities and hybrid membranes are still under investigation.
Membranes are made to be as thin as possible to ensure maximum
permeation rates without compromising mechanical strength. Membrane
separation have great potential to be more efficient and of lower capital cost
than solvent-based systems.
2.2.6 Biomimetic Approach
These are biological systems that utilize the naturally occurring reactions of
CO2 in living organisms. Microalgae are large group of photosynthetic,
heterotrophic organisms which have a unique potential for cultivation as
energy crops because they are capable of converting sunlight, water, CO 2 to
sugars. This offers great potentials as it would prevent the need for CO 2
compression and sequestration (Herzog et al., 2009).
2.2.7 Chemical Looping Combustion
Chemical looping is slightly similar to the oxy-combustion process in that,
before combustion, oxygen is removed from air by reacting with metal
particles in a fluidised bed to produce metal oxides (oxidation reaction). The
captured oxygen, which will be in form of metal oxides, is then contacted with
fuel to release produced CO2 and water vapour, and the metal (reduction
reaction). The water vapour is then condensed, leaving pure CO 2.

TABLE 2.1: Comparison of technology options for co 2 separation (Rao et

al., 2004; Olajire, 2010)
Technolog

System

y Option
Chemical

Requirement
Absorber and

Absorption

stripper

CO2 streams

regeneration is

sections

(typical flue gas

very high

Chemical

from power plant)

sorbent (MEA,

Advantages
Suitable for dilute

Operates at

Problems/drawbacks
Heat of sorbent

Significant sorbent
loses; pre-

MDEA,

ordinary

processing may be

Ammonia,

temperature and

required (e.g

Blended

pressure

sulphur removal)

amines)

Commercially
available, proven
technology
Suitable only for

Requires high

Physical

Absorber and

Absorption

stripper

gas streams with

sections

high partial

Physical

pressure of CO2

with gas streams

sorbent

(typical syngas

having high CO2

(DEPG,

from gasification

content; so it is not

Chilled

systems)

suitable for flue

Less energy

gas processing

methanol,
Propylene

required

carbonate)

assuming that the

gas to be
processed is
already at high
pressure
Sorbents are less
susceptible to
impurities in the
gas stream
7

operating pressure
Works better only

Adsorption

Adsorber
bed(s)

Membranes

Membrane
filter(s)

Commercially

Low capacity and

available gas

CO2 selectivity of

separation

available

process
Upcoming,

adsorbents
Requires high

promising

operating

technology with

pressures

diverse
applications

Lower product
purity; need for

Space efficient

multiple

No regeneration

stages/cycles

is required
No waste streams

Preventing
membrane wetting
is a major

Cryogenic

Refrigeration
and distillation

Direct production
of liquid CO2

units

challenge
Requires very
large amount of
energy for
refrigeration (not
suitable for dilute
streams)

Chemical

Reactor beds

Exhaust gas

No large-scale

Looping

stream for air

demonstration has

Combustion

reactor is

been performed.

harmless
Avoids huge
energy penalty;
and thus less
operational cost

Table 2.1 shows the advantages and challenges of the various separation
technologies. These technology options are presently under intense research
and development in the improvement of energy penalty for CO 2 capture in
power generating plants. The separation methods are applied to capture
technologies in the power generation stations to produce the desired CO 2
capture.

2.3 The CO2 Capture Technologies/Approaches

The focal point of mitigating global CO 2 emissions from the use of fossil fuels
used in power generation plants in the entire carbon capture and storage
process is the CO2 separation and capture stage. The power generation
technologies that are easily adapted to carbon capture technology are
conventional pulverised coal combustion steam power plants (PC), natural
gas combined cycle plants (NGCC) and the advanced power systems such as
the integrated gasification combined cycles (IGCC) plants A typical power
plant consists of a boiler (where the fuel is burned and the heat used to
generate high pressure steam) and a turbine (that converts thermal energy to
mechanical energy through its shaft) and a generator (which transforms the
mechanical energy into electrical power). However, in the case of the
gasification power plants without CO2 capture, fossil fuels are first gasified to
produce a mixture of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H 2) which
expands in a gas turbine to generate electricity. The three major types of
carbon capture processes are:
2.3.1 Post-combustion Capture Technology: In this technology, CO2 is
separated from flue gas after the combustion of the fossil fuel. It normally
uses a solvent to capture CO2 from the exhaust gases of power and industrial
plants. The solvent is regenerated after the process. The CO 2 capture solvent
can be physical or chemical but chemical solvents, known as amines are
mostly used. Chemical solvents are used because they are less dependent on
partial pressure than physical solvents, therefore favouring the partial
9

pressure of CO2 in the flue gas, which is low, normally between 4 -14% by
volume (IEA GHG, 2007). This technology is widely used to capture CO 2 for
use in food and beverage industry.
2.3.1.1 Advantages of Post-Combustion Capture Technology (MEAbased)
The amine solvent is commercially available. Amine based post
combustion capture of CO2 from coal plants has been established,
and numerous installations around the world have substantial
experience with this process. This makes them readily applicable in
curbing CO2 emissions from coal power plants.

Easy to retrofit and flexible compared to other methods. Post

combustion approach to CO2 capture is an end of pipe or curative
method of addressing CO2 emission from power plants. In this way, it
may not be necessary to carry out extensive process modifications of
the host plant in order to accommodate the capture plant.

The operation is ordinary and has lower risk. Monoethanolamine is

able to capture CO2 from flue gases at very low concentrations, and
at a pressure close to atmospheric pressure. The temperature range
for the regeneration of CO 2 from the solvent is between 100 140 oC,
and hence the process can proceed at a fairly low temperature
condition.

CO2 purity. The level of purity of the recovered CO 2 from pulverized

coal plants using the amine based post combustion process can be
as high as 95% (Steeneveldt et al., 2006).
High separation capacity. Although the concentration of CO 2 in flue
gases from a coal fired plant is very small (between 12 15%), they
are recovered easily from the flue gas as a result of high chemical
reactivity of amines (MEA) with CO2. The absorbed CO2 is also easily
recovered from the solvent by the application of moderate amount of
heat.

10

 Renewable energy technologies can be integrated with it, for

example, inexpensive solar collectors can be used to provide the
heat needed to separate CO2 from the solvent (CISRO, 2007). It is
robust to changes in fuel quality.
Ability to adopt technology improvements, providing pathway toward
zero-emissions.

2.3.1.2 Limitations to Post-Combustion Capture Technology

High energy requirement for solvent regeneration. The carbamate
formed from the absorption process requires substantial energy to
break the bonds. Secondly, electricity is required to drive the blowers
and relatively higher electricity is needed to compress the captured
CO2 for transport to storage site. This consumption of electricity and
heat form the main sources of energy penalty and lead to 20-30%
loss of generation efficiency to capture 90% of CO 2 (IEA GHG, 2008).
A facility with capture has to be larger than that without capture to
achieve the same energy output. The IPCC Special Report Carbon
dioxide Capture and Storage (2005) calculated that capture of 90%
CO2 using conventional technologies would result in an increased
fuel consumption of 24-40% and 4-25% for PC and IGCC plants
respectively, compared to similar plants without capture. High energy
requirement for post-combustion capture technology is regarded as a
major challenge for its large scale demonstration. The conventional
Econamine FG process heat requirement is around 4.2GJ/tonne CO 2.
Currently a number of solvents are being investigated to ascertain the
one that is best suited for the chemical absorption with minimal
energy requirement. This will be discussed extensively in the next
chapter.

Retrofit potentially requires steam turbines modification and requires

a large space for its installation. This is not always possible as most
coal power plants and factories are built in industrial area with limited
space available.
11

.
.

High cost associated with the process. Capture costs are typically
affected

by sorbent

regeneration,

heat

requirement,

sorbent

concentration, sorbent loss and cost. The absorption process

requires large equipment sizes because of low concentrations of CO 2
and hence additional cost. Due to the additional cost of capture
facility, there is associated increase in cost, around 32-40/tCO 2
avoided, and a considerable 60% increase in cost of electricity
(COE).
2.3.2 Pre-combustion Capture Technology: This technology involves the
gasification of fuel firstly; to produce a gaseous mixture of carbon monoxide
(CO) and hydrogen H2 (synthesis gas), the produced gas is further reacted
with steam under the right conditions of temperature and pressure to produce
a gas stream consisting of CO2 and hydrogen. The CO2 can then be captured
while the hydrogen is expanded in a turbine for electricity generation. This
approach has the advantage of being cheaper and has lower energy
consumption for solvent regeneration than the conventional post-combustion
capture approach.
2.3.3 Oxy-fuel Combustion Capture Technology: The last approach is the
case where the power plant is fed with pure oxygen instead of air; the
resulting flue gas will be a mixture of CO 2 and steam depending on the
hydrogen content of the fuel source. The steam is condensed and then CO 2
eventually captured. The CO2 captured can be stored with less downstream
processing as the nitrogen concentration in the flue gas is much lower than
when air is used for firing. The oxygen used is often produced on-site in an air
separation plant which forms the highest cost component in the process
because of its high energy demand. Radgen et al, (2006) noted that the high
energy demand for producing oxygen could be reduced by applying
membrane-based processes for oxygen production. Oxy-fuel combustion has
better combustion efficiency and lower emissions.

12

Figure 2.2: The three major CO2 capture technologies (IFP, 2009)
Table 2.2: Advantages and disadvantages of different CO 2 capture
technologies
CO2 Capture
Technology
Postcombustion

Advantages

Disadvantages

Applicable to the majority

of existing coal-fired
power plants

Low CO2 partial pressure

Significantly higher
performance or circulation

Retrofit technology
option

volume required for high

capture levels

Low technology risk

Flexible operation and

CO2 produced at low

pressure compared to

ability to adopt

sequestration

technology

requirements

improvements with ease

High energy penalty for

solvent regeneration

Precombustion

Loss of Solvent
Applicable mainly to new

High CO2 partial

pressure

plants, as few gasification

Increased driving force

13

plants are currently in

for separation

operation

More technologies
available for separation

Barriers to commercial
application of gasification

Potential for reduction in

are common to pre-

compression costs/loads

combustion capture
Poor availability

Low emissions

High cost of equipment

Extensive supporting
systems requirements
Cooling of gas to capture
CO2
Efficiency loss in waterOxycombustion

shift reaction
Large cryogenic O2

Very high CO2

concentration in flue gas
Retrofit and repowering
technology option

production requirement
may be cost prohibitive
Cooled CO2 recycle

Very low emissions

required to maintain

Absence of nitrogen

temperatures within limits

provides low volume of

gases and so reduced
size of the overall

of combustor materials
Decreased process
efficiency
Added auxiliary load

process

2.4 CO2 Transportation

CO2 has to be transported from the capture point to the place where it will
either be utilised or stored in a safe and secure way. CO 2 can be transported
in the liquid and gaseous phase. The common means of transportation are
pipelines, roads and rail tanks. Some form of pre treatment may be required
before transporting the captured CO 2, as it may contain some impurities as

14

water vapour, hydrogen sulphide (H 2S), Nitrogen (N2), methane (CH4), oxygen
(O2), mercury (Hg) and other hydrocarbon (WRI, 2008).
2.4.1 Pipeline Transportation
In transporting CO2 through pipelines, gaseous CO 2 is first compressed to a
pressure above 8Mpa in order to avoid a two-phase flow regime, and to
increase the density, making it easier and less costly to transport (IPCC,
2005). This compression pressure may however vary in different cases,
depending on the desired delivery conditions, the transportation length and
the composition of the gas to be transported (Steeneveldt et al., 2006). One of
the major issues in pipeline transportation is corrosion and the estimated rates
at which it will occur strongly influences the choice of material of construction
for the pipelines. Pipeline corrosion rates are largely influenced by the
composition of the gas being transported, with the amount of water vapour
present being an important factor in corrosion prevention.
2.4.2 Ship, Road and Rail Transportation
Another common method of moving CO 2 is ship transportation. Specially
designed ships as those used in the transportation of liquefied natural gas
(LPG) are used. Steeneveldt et al. (2006) stated that ships have the
advantage of allowing collection of concentrated CO 2 from various sources at
volumes below the critical size for pipeline transportation. Their use requires
the installation of facilities for compression, loading and unloading, as well as
intermediate storage at the different collection points. Transportation of CO 2
by road and rail are feasible, but have low comparative advantage in large
scale CO2 capture projects. They may best be adapted to very small capture
operations.

2.5 CO2 Storage

15

The mitigation of global climate changes due to CO 2 emission effectively ends

with the permanent storage or industrial utilisation of the captured CO 2. The
quantity of carbon that will be captured may be too large to be utilised in
industrial processes and hence a need for some alternative storage media.
The chosen media must be able to retain the gas without the CO 2 leaking into
the atmosphere. In selecting the appropriate medium of storage, certain key
criteria must be applied. Such criteria include (Herzog and Golomb, 2004): (a)
storage period should be prolonged, preferably hundreds to thousands of
years, (b) cost of storage, including the cost of transportation from the source
to the storage site, should be minimised, (c) the risk of accidents should be
eliminated, (d) the environmental impact should be minimal, and (e) the
storage method should not violate any national or international regulations.
The three basic storage options are geological, ocean and mineral storage.
2.5.1 Geological CO2 Storage
The two main routes for storing CO2 are to inject it into geologic formation or
into the ocean. The potential geological storage modes for CO 2 include:
Depleted oil and gas reservoirs
Deep saline formations
Storage in association with CO2 Enhanced Oil recovery (EOR)
Projects.
Coal bed formations (unminable coal seams)

16

CHAPTER THREE
PROCESS DESCRIPTION
3.1 Pulverised Coal (PC) power plant
This study was done at Longannet Power station in Scotland. The pulverised
coal power station has a generating capacity of 2300MW, comprising of four
separate generating units. The pulverized coal power generation starts by
crushing coal into a fine powder that is fed into a boiler, where it is burned to
create heat. The combustion process takes place in excess air to ensure
complete combustion. The heat was used to produce steam which drives one
or more turbines to generate electricity. The flue gases leaving the
combustion chamber in a plant without CO 2 capture were emitted into the air.
However, the combustion of some coal types yields a flue gas with high NO x
and SOx content. These were removed by the flue gas desulphurization (FGD)
systems for SOx and low burner technology or selective catalytic reduction
(SCR) systems for NOx.

3.2 Post Combustion Capture Technology in PC Power Plant (MEAbased)

Amines (Alkanolamines) are a family of organic compounds that are
derivatives of alkanols (OH functional group) and have amino group (NH 2)
attached to one of the carbon atoms. Amines are water-soluble organic
compounds that contain reactive nitrogen atoms. The conventional amines
with

commercial

interest

for

CO2

absorption

process

include

monoethanolamine (MEA), diathanolamine (DEA), and methydiethanolamine

(MDEA). Below is a diagram for conventional amines. Monoethanolamine
(MEA) was used for the purpose of this study and would be used as a
reference case. MEA is a primary amine, colourless, toxic and viscous liquid
with an odour similar to that of ammonia.

17

The CO2 in the flue gas leaving the combustion chamber was scrubbed by
means of a liquid solvent. A continuous scrubbing system is often required to
separate CO2 from a flue gas stream. The system consists of two main
elements; an absorber in which the CO 2 was absorbed into a specific solvent,
and a regenerator (or stripper) in which CO 2 was released (mostly in
concentrated form) and the original solvent recycled. The flue gas from the
Longannet power plant was first cooled to 40 0C- 500C and passed through the
absorber, with aqueous monoethanolamine solvent flowing through absorber
in a counter current pattern. The absorber contains packing materials which
provided contact surface area between the flue gas and the solvent. The
absorption of CO2 occurred through a chemical reaction, resulting in the
formation of a chemically bonded compound named MEA Carbamate. The
treated gas was then vented into the atmosphere.
The CO2 rich solvent leaving the absorption column was pumped into the
regenerator or stripper. The absorbed CO 2 was recovered in the stripper by
breaking the bond between the CO 2 and the amines (Carbamate). CO2 was
recovered from the solvent at elevated temperatures (100 140 oC) and a
pressure slightly higher than the normal atmospheric pressure. The heat
energy required to regenerate CO2 from monoethanolamine is drawn from the
steam cycle of the host plant. After the CO2 has been stripped from the CO2
rich solvent, the lean solvent was recycled back into the absorption column to
continue the cycle. Fresh MEA was also added to compensate for the losses
incurred in the process. The recovered CO 2 was dried and compressed, in
readiness for storage. Generally, the process chemistry for the chemical
absorption is complex but the major reactions were;
R-NH3+ + R-NH-COO

CO2 Absorption: 2R-NH2 + CO2

MEA Regeneration:

R-NH-COO - + R-NH3+ + Heat

18

CO2 + 2R-NH2

offgas
approx
. 45oC

CO2 to
compression
&
dehydration

Condenser
Demister
Water
wash

400C

ABSORPTION
COLUMN

Flue gas

Make-up
solvent

Solvent
cooling

1200C

REGENERATION
COLUMN

Lean/rich
solvent
heat
exchanger

50 C
Blower

Reflux
vessel

Cooler

11250C

Reboiler
LP steam

LP condensate

Figure 3.1: Post-combustion capture (solvent scrubbing)-current status

Coal burns to release about 0.3kg CO 2 per MJ electricity generated.

Converting this to KWh (i.e multiplying by 3.6) gives about 1.08kg CO 2 emitted
per KWh generated. The Longannet coal-fired power station has a generation
capacity of 2300 MW and therefore emits:= (2,300,000 x 24x 365)kwh/year
= (2,300,000 x 24 x 365 x1.08)kg CO2/year
= 21,759,840 tonnes of CO2/year
The coal plant emitted 21.7Mega tonnes of CO 2 per year before the
installation of capture facility but emitted about 26.9 30.3Mega tonnes of
CO2 after the installation of capture facility (as a result of additional fuel
consumption between 24% - 40%) in order to generate the same energy
output. Since the facility was designed to capture 90% of CO 2, then about
19

24.2- 27.3 Mega tonnes of CO 2 was captured, while 2.7- 3 Mega tonnes was
emitted. The CO2 avoided now becomes the difference in emissions between
the reference and capture plant, which is 18.7- 19 Mega tonnes. See
appendix for calculations.

Figure 3.2: Graphical representation of CO2 avoided

20

CHAPTER FOUR
DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Fossil fuels, especially coal has continued to play a dominant role in meeting
global energy demand. The post-combustion technology helps to achieve a
balance between meeting the energy demand, economic development and
protecting the environment. For large Longannet coal power plant with a
generating capacity of 2300MW, 18.7- 19 Mega tonnes of CO 2 were avoided
yearly, while 2.7 3 Mega tonnes were emitted into the atmosphere instead
of 21.7 Mega tonnes (plant without a capture facility). Therefore the
technology saves the environment of 18.7- 19 Mega tonnes of CO 2 yearly
from a single centralised source. Since coal is responsible for almost half
(40%) of global CO2 emissions, installations, development and transfer of this
technology is highly recommended.
The

technology

has

some

inherent

challenges

facing

its

global

commercialisation especially in the use of amines to capture the CO 2 gas,

because of the required high thermal input for the recovery of the separated
CO2 from the absorbing solvent medium. This study noted that process
efficiency can be substantially improved by careful development of solvents
that can overcome these inadequacies presented by MEA. Chilled ammonia,
aqueous ammonia and carbonate-based (Na 2CO3 and K2CO3/PZ) have shown
great improvement over the conventional MEA in terms of tolerance to oxygen
degradation and flue gas impurities, high absorption/desorption rates, low
corrosion rate, higher stability and high absorption capacity. The ammonia
process similar to MEA system but unlike the MEA process, ammonia does
not have absorbent degradation and corrosion problems caused by SO 2 and
O2 in the flue gas, and offers potentials for regeneration at high pressure.
Aqueous ammonia reacts with CO2 as a dissolved ammonia carbonate to
form ammonia bicarbonate with much lower heat of reaction, compared to that
of amine-based systems. Chilled ammonia and aqueous ammonia have great

21

potentials but have ammonia slippage and slower absorption rate as

drawbacks. The dominant reaction is the equilibrium reaction below;
2NH4HCO3

(NH4)2CO3 + CO2 + H2O

Further improvement can be achieved by process integration and process

intensification. Integration of flue gas desulphurisation unit and capture plant
into the coal power plant, the use of advanced supercritical boilers to achieve
the best steam conditions, extraction of low pressure steam at the lowest
possible temperature from the steam cycle and condensate heating with the
recovered waste heat from the compressor would ensure much higher
efficiency in both the capture and power plant. Process intensification with
rotating packed beds, compact heat exchangers and heat enhancements
would not only guarantee smaller component sizes, increased throughput,
more efficient and safer process, but also a significant reduction in capital and
operating cost which will invariably lead to cheaper cost of electricity (COE).

Table 4.1: Summary for main recommendations

Reduction of CO2 which is a greenhouse gas (GHG) can help mitigate
global warming
Coal delivers about 30% of worlds primary energy, 39% of worlds net
electricity and responsible for over 40% of global CO 2 emissions with
current atmospheric concentration of 387ppm closing-in on stabilisation
level of 450ppm
.
High energy requirement and cost have been identified as the most
important barriers to commercialisation of post-combustion. These can be
addressed by improvements in solvents, process simplification, process
integration and intensification.
To ensure complete optimisation of the processes above, all aspects of
the entire post-combustion technology should be energy efficient.

22

 Financial support from the government and industry is mandatory

Public awareness on capture technology and its role in global emissions
reduction should be encouraged.
Diffusion and transfer of technologies to developing countries and their
capacity to apply the technology should be mandatory.
Establishment of an institution or forum that would encourage practical
work on post-combustion capture technologies and identification of safe
and large capacity storage site or CO2 usage facility is important.
Creating a legal-regulatory framework by government.
Learning-by-doing is imperative as this has yielded commendable
improvements with similar technologies
There should be seamless communication between the Chemical and
Mechanical Engineers in developing new sorbents.
More intensified effort should be geared towards the development of
breakthrough technologies as they offer more potentials towards
reductions in energy demand and cost
Continued and intensified research is mandatory as post-combustion
technology offers great potentials.

23

CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION
This work provided a comprehensive overview of post-combustion carbon
capture technology, using the Longannet coal power station as a case study,
with particular emphasis on ways of improving post-combustion capture
technology. As coal will remain the dominant source of fuel of primary energy
at least till 2050, because of its low cost and abundant reserves, especially in
countries like China, United States, Russia, and the security and economics
of its supply, capture technologies will thus, be mandatory to mitigate CO 2
emissions from large coal power plants. Though switching to other sources of
fuel/renewable energy source and improved energy efficiency may seem to
be superior strategies, CO2 capture technologies are indispensable if CO 2,
which is a greenhouse gas is to be reduced from centralised sources. Postcombustion capture technologies from large centralised sources like power
plants can be effectively accomplished through continued research to develop
technologies and processes, development of technologies and project
demonstrations. Public and government support are generally required to
achieve this especially in terms of technical and financial incentives, as much
further work is still needed to effectively commercialise this technology.
Post-combustion capture technology is presently the only available and most
feasible technology to be implemented in near future particularly for existing
and new coal power plants between now and 2020, but has a major limitation
in terms of high energy requirement which directly affects cost. An optimised
process (solvent improvement, intensification, simplification and integration,
breakthrough technologies) and learning-by-doing will significantly reduce the
energy demand and cost and hence, position post-combustion capture
technology in an actively competitive level with other low carbon technologies.
Post-combustion capture can be an important and timely part of the solution
to climate change but is by itself insufficient, as many measures are
necessary to create the required total cumulative emission reduction.
24

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26

APPENDIX
24% fuel increase=124% of 21.7 = 124/100 x 21.7= 26.9 Mega tonnes of CO 2
40% fuel increase =140% of 21.7= 140/100 x 21.7 = 30.3 Mega tonnes of CO 2
90% capture= 90/100 x26.9 = 24.2Mega tonnes of CO 2
90% capture = 90/100 x 30.3 = 27.3 Mega tonnes of CO 2
CO2 emitted = 26.9 - 24.2= 2.7 Mega tonnes
CO2 emitted = 30.3 27.3= 3 Mega tonnes
CO2 avoided = 21.7 (without capture facility) 2.7= 19 Mega tonnes
CO2 avoided = 21.7(without capture facility) 3 = 18.7 Mega tonnes
Mitigation cost
This cost is expressed in per tonne of CO2 avoided, and is a useful way to
compare different mitigation strategies. The cost of CO 2 mitigation varies,
depending on the capture plant and the base case power plant. For example,
the analysis of different CO2 mitigation strategy for a PC plant will compare
the cost of mitigation from post combustion and oxyfuel combustion methods,
to the reference PC plant without capture.
Cost of CO2 avoided =

(/kWh) cap - (/kWh) ref

(tonnes CO2 emitted/kWh) ref - tonnes CO2

emitted

/kWh) cap

cap = capture plant

ref = reference plant
/kWh = levelized COE
tonne CO2emitted/kWh = metric tonne of CO2 emitted by the plant per kW h net
generation
In contrast, the cost per unit of CO 2 removed or captured is simply the
additional expense incurred in the capture of CO 2, divided by the total quantity
of CO2 captured

27