CO2 capture process integration (Task 6)

The Task’s activities include the development of the fi rst ever solvent benchmark for post-combustion capture for a wide variety of CO₂ concentrations and at a large scale, the development of a calcium looping technology integration that shows a cost reduction potential of at least 30% compared to MEA for capture from WtE plants, and the conceptual design of Innovative Hybrid concepts. This includes the development of a novel adsorption-liquefaction hybrid process that shows potential for signifi cant cost reduction in low to medium CO₂ concentration flue gas.

We will be developing a generic methodology for waste to energy (WtE) plants with post-combustion CO₂ capture. (This links the Task to Deployment Case 1). The methodology will be used to redesign plants so they can support flexibility between heat (steam) and electricity output.

The Task will develop a systematic approach to link solvent properties (read more about its relevance to CCS in Task 2) and cost reduction in end-of-pipe CO₂ capture.

At least three reference cases for CO₂ emission sources will be established in cooperation with industry partners. We will also establish contact with NETL and DOE to conduct joint research on methodologies for identifying breakthrough CO₂ capture technologies.

Results 2021

The Norwegian and European process industries view CCS as one of the key technologies for lowering or even eliminating their CO₂ emissions. At an EU level, the perception of CCS has moved from “something that could be used” to “a needed tool for job creation and climate change mitigation”.

2021 saw the continuation of dialogue with the Norwegian process industry, with the goal of creating more spin-off projects. In particular, this resulted in the successful funding of the KSP CCShip, which is a spinoff project from Task 6.

CCShip focuses on developing cost-effective CCS solutions to be implemented on ships in order to reduce CO₂ emissions in the maritime industry. The project had its kick-off on 30 April 2021, and will run for four years.

Cost is a major barrier to the demonstration and implementation of CCS at an industrial scale. One of the main elements contributing to the overall cost of the CCS value chain is CO₂ capture. Therefore, innovative ways of reducing the cost of CO₂ capture can have a significant impact on the business cases for CCS for industrial processes and waste-to-energy plants. Hybrid concepts in particular can significantly reduce the cost of capture by combining different capture technologies in a way that makes them more cost-effective than if they were implemented alone.

Figure 1: LCOE and CAC for the WtE plant with CO₂ capture.

This year, work continued on the two types of hybrid capture technologies: membrane absorption and membrane adsorption. In particular, we finalised our work on improving and updating our process models for membrane chemical absorption using solvents. The membrane module enables a standardised absorption process by producing a permeate product with a fixed CO₂ purity. Membrane CO₂ upgrading may be suitable for industrial cases (> 10 mol% CO₂) with other CO₂ capture technologies, which are cost effective when feed is rich in CO₂. The results of this work are due to be published in 2022.

2021 also saw the initiation of work on a hybrid separation process that consists of an upstream pressure swing adsorption (PSA) unit and a downstream membrane separation stage. Preliminary results on a systematic and robust techno-economic assessment in 2022 shows that this concept could be competitive with other existing capture technologies, and more in-depth assessment will be conducted in 2022.04.11

Results 2020

The Norwegian and European process industry sees CCS as one of the key technologies to lower or even eliminate their CO2 emissions. At EU level, the perception of CCS has moved from "something that could be used if" to "a needed tool for jobs and climate change mitigation". An extension of the Longship project must include CCS from industrial sectors in Norway and the EU. This year's activity within involved the establishment of a dialog with process industry in Norway and Europe by organizing and hosting workshops and an Innovation Sprint in collaboration with other projects. In addition, two webinars hosted by NCCS were held around this topic:

Aligning European CCUS funding and R&I strategies, by Dr. Marie Bysbeen
Potential and challenges for CO₂ capture integration in process industries, by Dr. Rubén M. Montañés

Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plants play an essential role today as advanced waste management facilities. They provide energy recovery and produce heat and/or power. However, they also result in CO₂ emissions from the combustion process of the MSW we generate. CCS from WtE can provide negative emissions due to the biogenic origin of a fraction of the MSW. A key activity in R&D is the integration of new generation capture technologies for reduced cost of capture. Calcium Looping is a high potential next generation capture technology currently at Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL6). Task 6 conducted systematic Calcium Looping Integration in WtE Plants and a techno-economic assessment. We discovered a potential for 30% reduced total cost of capture with respect to baseline mature technology using amines. This could potentially help CCS implementation in WtE towards 2030 and 2050. In addition, a potential new business case and role for WtE plants with CCS in sustainable cities: since Waste to Energy plants could provide negative emissions. The results of the work were published in 2020 in collaboration with TU Darmstad.

LCOE and CAC for the WtE plant with CO2 Capture — LCOE and CAC for the WtE plant with CO₂ Capture

Hybrid CO₂ capture technologies can significantly reduce the cost of capture by integrating technologies that are best-in-class within a subset of the overall expected operating range. This year we explored the potential of membrane chemical absorption technologies. We improved and updated our process models for membranes and chemical absorption using solvents. We studied how modular CO2 enrichment membrane process for standardised absorption processes because it has potential reductions in capture cost compared to end-of-pipe CO2 capture with chemical absorption. The membrane module enables to have a standardise absorption process by producing a permeate product with a fixed CO2 purity. This hybrid system was able to achieve significant savings in the capital cost of the absorption process. Nevertheless, the large increase in electricity consumption and the capital cost of the membrane module dilutes the cost savings from the standardisation, resulting in a larger CO2 avoided cost of the hybrid system compared to the standalone absorption process. The potential of the membrane assisted absorption process can be improved by proper selection of membrane characteristics and operating conditions, which will require thorough cost optimisation of the hybrid system.

Membrane-absorption hybrid system layout.

Haaf M. et al. 2020. CO₂ Capture from waste-to-energy plants: Techno-economic assessment of novel integration concepts of calcium looping technology. Resources, Conservation & Recycling. (2020) 162, 104973. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104973

Main results 2019

CO₂capture from Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plants is receiving significant attention due to its potential contribution to negative emissions and its role within the context of sustainable cities.

Process integration of Calcium Looping (CaL) in a WtE plant was studied. Results showed the benefit of CaL process compared to MEA or other solvents for post-combustion capture for WtE plants, particularly with an emphasis on negative emissions.

Techno-economics of the WtE plant indicate that it is important to consider capture technologies with low energy penalties for capture with trade-off of having much higher CAPEX. While this is generally true of most post-combustion capture applications, it is emphasised in the case of CO₂capture from WtE plants.

The techno-economic analysis of the WtE plant have provided significant insights on the potential role of WtE plants with CCS being a competitive player in the Negative Emission Technology (NET) arena. This could help drive the business case for CCS in this sector.

Hybrid CO₂capture technologies can significantly reduce the cost of capture by integrating technologies that are best-in-class within a subset of the overall expected operating range. Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) is a suitable technology for bulk removal of CO₂while the liquefaction process is very good for CO₂purification. The PSA-Liquefaction hybrid process is a good option compared to PSA process for certain niche applications with sorbents that have high productivity and low selectivity. Identified PSA-Liquefaction process niche that has a potential to reduce the cost of post-combustion CO₂capture using adsorbents.

Upper left: Levelised cost of electricity of the WtE plant without and with CaL dependent on the CO₂ emission credit. Right: Impact of scale and CO₂ concentration on cost of CO₂ capture cost using MEA.

Results 2018

Main Results

Initiated development of a methodology for identifying the potential for cost reduction in end-of-pipe capture using solvents. An absorber model was developed as part of this work in 2018.
Preliminary work on identifying the potential of different capture process routes – membranes, PSA, absorption and CO₂ liquefaction. Identified that for pressure-based separation processes (membranes and PSA) using a hybrid membrane-liquefaction or hybrid PSA-liquefaction process should always be better than a 2-stage process.

Impact and innovations

The methodology for cost reduction is in its initial phase of development. When completed it is expected to provide directions for potential cost reduction when using solvents for post-combustion CO₂ capture.
The basis for a subsequent thermodynamic evaluation of capture processes has been established. In subsequent years, with development of this methodology, it is expected to identify novel processes, configurations and identify improvements in standard capture processes through thermodynamic insights.

Results 2017

Three main activities have been undertaken. One of these was to develop reference cases that would provide a benchmark to identify the potential of technologies developed during the course of NCCS.

Two reference CCS chains were selected and defined in discussions with partners, assessed and evaluated in collaboration with Task 1:

CCS from a natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plant
CCS from a hydrogen production plant

For the NGCC reference plant, the widely used European Benchmarking Task Force (EBTF) reference case was updated with an H class gas turbine. The overall NGCC plant efficiency with CO₂ capture was 54.5% compared to 49.5% in the EBTF reference case, and the efficiency penalty for CO₂ capture was 7.5 %-points compared to 8.6 %-points in the EBTF case.

Another activity was to develop an energy integration model to provide insight on how to integrate CO₂ capture to a waste-to-energy plant. The Klemetsrud plant will be used as a case study. A framework for energy optimization of the plant with CO₂ capture was established.

Publications

Task leader

Marie Bysveen

Chief Market Developer

92 28 61 13

Name: Marie Bysveen
Title: Chief Market Developer
Phone: 92 28 61 13
Department: Thermal Energy
Office: Trondheim
Company: SINTEF Energi AS

Norwegian CCS Research Centre

CO₂ capture process integration (Task 6)