Assessment of Solvent Degradation within a Global Process Model of Post-Combustion CO2 Capture

Abstract

Solvent degradation may be a major drawback for the large-scale implementation of post-combustion CO 2 capture due to amine consumption and emission of degradation products. However, its influence on the process operations has rarely been studied. In the present work, a kinetics model describing solvent oxidative and thermal degradation has been developed based on own experimental results for the benchmark solvent, i.e. 30 wt% monoethanolamine (MEA) in water. This model has been included into a global Aspen Plus model of the CO 2 capture process. The selected process modelling approaches are described in the present work. Using the resulting simulation model, optimal operating conditions can be identified to minimize both the energy requirement and the solvent degradation in the process. This kind of process model assessing solvent degradation may contribute to the design of large-scale CO 2 capture plants to consider not only the process energy penalty, but also its environmental penalty. Indeed, both aspects are relevant for the large-scale deployment of the CO 2 capture technology.

Evaluation of Solvent Degradation in Amine-Based Post-Combustion Capture Process Simulations.

“…The results show that the contribution of oxidative degradation to the overall degradation is most significant at around 80%. This is in line with other modelling works in literature [1], [23], [24]. Thermal reclaiming is predicted to be most significant in the stripper reboiler, due to the high liquid holdup volume and high temperatures.…”

Influence of process operating conditions on solvent thermal and oxidative degradation in post-combustion CO2 capture

“…Several steps were necessary to achieve the final flowsheet represented in Fig. 2, some of them being described in Léonard and Heyen (2011) and in Léonard et al (2013Léonard et al ( , 2014c. This model represents the pilot plant described by Knudsen et al (2011), treating a flue gas flow rate of 5000 Nm 3 /h.…”

Design and Evaluation of a High-Density Energy Storage Route with CO2 Re-Use, Water Electrolysis and Methanol Synthesis

“…The CO 2 capture model for the present study was previously presented (Léonard et al, 2014 and2015b). Process improvements and optimized flowsheet configurations led to a heat requirement of 2.92 GJ/tCO 2 (electricity consumption of the process utilities can be neglected in first approach).…”