Utilization of Ocean Water for CO2 Capture via Amine Scrubbing

Author(s):  
Abhishek P. Ratanpara ◽  
Alexander Shaw ◽  
Sanat Deshpande ◽  
Myeongsub Kim

Abstract As the consumption of fossil fuel resources has continuously increased to meet global fuel demands for power generation, atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), have rapidly increased over the last century. Increased CO2 emissions have caused serious international concerns about global warming, sea-level rise, and ocean acidification. Although post-combustion carbon capture technology that separates CO2 from flue gas in fossil fuel-fired power plants has contributed to significant migration of atmospheric CO2 emissions, this approach generates considerable amounts of toxic wastewater containing a heavy chemical which is difficult to treat, raises concerns about acute corrosion of metal structures in the facility, and waste of significant amounts of freshwater. In this research, we are particularly interested in reducing the use of freshwater for CO2 capture and generating carbonate minerals, byproducts of CO2 with calcium (Ca2+) or magnesium ions (Mg2+) in ocean water which are useful building blocks for marine animals, such as seashells and coral reefs. In our experimental approach, we attempted to use ocean water with different monoethanolamine (MEA) concentrations and compared the CO2 capturing efficiency with that in DI water. We found that there are considerable benefits of the use of ocean water in CO2 dissolution, showing that a replacement of freshwater with ocean water would be a possible option. In the future, we will further enhance the dissolution of CO2 in ocean water by using nanoparticle catalysts without using MEA, which will be an environmentally friendly method for CO2 capture.

Author(s):  
Jesu´s M. Escosa ◽  
Cristo´bal Cortes ◽  
Luis M. Romeo

Fossil fuel power plants account for about a third of global carbon dioxide emissions. Coal is the major power-generation fuel, being used twice as extensively as natural gas (IEA, 2003). Moreover, on a global scale, coal demand is expected to double over the period to 2030; IEA estimates that 4500 GWe of new installed power will be required. Coal is expected to provide 40% of this figure. It is thus obvious that coal power plants must be operative to provide such amount of energy in the short term, at the same time reducing their CO2 emissions in a feasible manner and increasing their efficiency and capacity. However, the main technologies currently considered to effect CO2 capture, both post-and pre-combustion, introduce a great economic penalty and largely reduce the capacity and efficiency. One of these technologies involves the separation of CO2 from high temperature flue gases using the reversible carbonation reaction of CaO and the calcination of CaCO3. The process is able to simultaneously capture sulfur dioxide. The major disadvantage of this well-known concept is the great amount of energy consumption in the calcinator and auxiliary equipment. This paper proposes a new, feasible approach to supply this energy which leads to an optimal integration of the process within a conventional coal power plant. Calcination is accomplished in a kiln fired by natural gas, whereas a gas turbine is used to supply all the auxiliary power. Flue gases from the kiln and the gas turbine can substitute a significant part of the heat duty of the steam cycle heaters, thus accomplishing feed water repowering of the steam turbine. This novel CO2-capture cycle is proposed to be integrated with aging coal-fired power plants. The paper shows that an optimal integration of both elements represents one of the best methods to simultaneously achieve: a) an increase of specific generating capacity in a very short period of time, b) a significant abatement of CO2 emissions, and c) an increase of plant efficiency in a cost-effective way.


Author(s):  
Ribooga Chang ◽  
Xianyue Wu ◽  
Ocean Cheung ◽  
Wen Liu

Carbon capture is an important and effective approach to control the emission of CO2 from point sources such as fossil fuel power plants, industrial furnaces and cement plants into the...


Author(s):  
Roger H Bezdek ◽  

This paper assesses the relative economic and jobs benefits of retrofitting an 847 MW USA coal power plant with carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology compared to replacing the plant with renewable (RE) energy and battery storage. The research had two major objectives: 1) Estimate the relative environmental, economic, and jobs impacts of CCUS retrofit of the coal plant compared to its replacement by the RE scenario; 2) develop metrics that can be used to compare the jobs impacts of coal fueled power plants to those of renewable energy. The hypotheses tested are: 1) The RE option will reduce CO2 emissions more than the CCUS option. We reject this hypothesis: We found that the CCUS option will reduce CO2 emissions more than the RE option. 2) The RE option will generate greater economic benefits than the CCUS option. We reject this hypothesis: We found that the CCUS option will create greater economic and jobs benefits than the RE option. 3) The RE option will create more jobs per MW than the CCUS option. We reject this hypothesis: We found that the CCUS option will create more jobs per MW more than the RE option. We discuss the implications of these findings.


Author(s):  
Theodore Hanein ◽  
Marco Simoni ◽  
Chun Long Woo ◽  
John L Provis ◽  
Hajime Kinoshita

The calcination of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is a major contributor to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that are changing our climate. Moreover, the calcination process requires high temperatures (~900°C). A novel...


Author(s):  
Ravinder Kumar ◽  
Mohammad Hossein Ahmadi ◽  
Dipen Kumar Rajak ◽  
Mohammad Alhuyi Nazari

Abstract Greenhouse gases emissions from large scale industries as well as gasoline based vehicles are mainly responsible for global warming since the 1980s. At present, it has triggered global efforts to reduce the level of GHG. The contribution of carbon dioxide (CO2) in polluting the environment is at a peak due to the excessive use of coal in power plants. So, serious attention is required to reduce the level of CO2 using advanced technologies. Carbon dioxide capture and storage may play an important role in this direction. In process industries, various carbon dioxide capture techniques can be used to reduce CO2 emissions. However, post-combustion carbon dioxide capture is on top priority. Nowadays the researcher is focusing their work on CO2 capture using hybrid solvent. This work highlights a review of carbon dioxide capture using various kind of hybrid solvent in a packed column. The various challenges for absorption efficiency enhancement and future direction are also discussed in the present work. It is concluded through the literature survey that hybrid solvent shows better efficiency in comparison to the aqueous solution used for CO2 capture.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyriaki Kelektsoglou

As the demand for the reduction of global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) increases, the need for anthropogenic CO2 emission reductions becomes urgent. One promising technology to this end, is carbon capture and storage (CCS). This paper aims to provide the current state-of-the-art of CO2 capure, transport, and storage and focuses on mineral carbonation, a novel method for safe and permanent CO2 sequestration which is based on the reaction of CO2 with calcium or magnesium oxides or hydroxides to form stable carbonate materials. Current commercial scale projects of CCS around Europe are outlined, demonstrating that only three of them are in operation, and twenty-one of them are in pilot phase, including the only one case of mineral carbonation in Europe the case of CarbFix in Iceland. This paper considers the necessity of CO2 sequestration in Greece as emissions of about 64.6 million tons of CO2 annually, originate from the lignite fired power plants. A real case study concerning the mineral storage of CO2 in Greece has been conducted, demonstrating the applicability of several geological forms around Greece for mineral carbonation. The study indicates that Mount Pindos ophiolite and Vourinos ophiolite complex could be a promising means of CO2 sequestration with mineral carbonation. Further studies are needed in order to confirm this aspect.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 6009
Author(s):  
YoungSeok Hwang ◽  
Jung-Sup Um ◽  
JunHwa Hwang ◽  
Stephan Schlüter

The Kaya identity is a powerful index displaying the influence of individual carbon dioxide (CO2) sources on CO2 emissions. The sources are disaggregated into representative factors such as population, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, energy intensity of the GDP, and carbon footprint of energy. However, the Kaya identity has limitations as it is merely an accounting equation and does not allow for an examination of the hidden causalities among the factors. Analyzing the causal relationships between the individual Kaya identity factors and their respective subcomponents is necessary to identify the real and relevant drivers of CO2 emissions. In this study we evaluated these causal relationships by conducting a parallel multiple mediation analysis, whereby we used the fossil fuel CO2 flux based on the Open-Source Data Inventory of Anthropogenic CO2 emissions (ODIAC). We found out that the indirect effects from the decomposed variables on the CO2 flux are significant. However, the Kaya identity factors show neither strong nor even significant mediating effects. This demonstrates that the influence individual Kaya identity factors have on CO2 directly emitted to the atmosphere is not primarily due to changes in their input factors, namely the decomposed variables.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 5147-5182
Author(s):  
V. A. Velazco ◽  
M. Buchwitz ◽  
H. Bovensmann ◽  
M. Reuter ◽  
O. Schneising ◽  
...  

Abstract. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important man-made greenhouse gas (GHG) that cause global warming. With electricity generation through fossil-fuel power plants now as the economic sector with the largest source of CO2, power plant emissions monitoring has become more important than ever in the fight against global warming. In a previous study done by Bovensmann et al. (2010), random and systematic errors of power plant CO2 emissions have been quantified using a single overpass from a proposed CarbonSat instrument. In this study, we quantify errors of power plant annual emission estimates from a hypothetical CarbonSat and constellations of several CarbonSats while taking into account that power plant CO2 emissions are time-dependent. Our focus is on estimating systematic errors arising from the sparse temporal sampling as well as random errors that are primarily dependent on wind speeds. We used hourly emissions data from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) combined with assimilated and re-analyzed meteorological fields from the National Centers of Environmental Prediction (NCEP). CarbonSat orbits were simulated as a sun-synchronous low-earth orbiting satellite (LEO) with an 828-km orbit height, local time ascending node (LTAN) of 13:30 (01:30 p.m.) and achieves global coverage after 5 days. We show, that despite the variability of the power plant emissions and the limited satellite overpasses, one CarbonSat can verify reported US annual CO2 emissions from large power plants (≥5 Mt CO2 yr−1) with a systematic error of less than ~4.9 % for 50 % of all the power plants. For 90 % of all the power plants, the systematic error was less than ~12.4 %. We additionally investigated two different satellite configurations using a combination of 5 CarbonSats. One achieves global coverage everyday but only samples the targets at fixed local times. The other configuration samples the targets five times at two-hour intervals approximately every 6th day but only achieves global coverage after 5 days. From the statistical analyses, we found, as expected, that the random errors improve by approximately a factor of two if 5 satellites are used. On the other hand, more satellites do not result in a large reduction of the systematic error. The systematic error is somewhat smaller for the CarbonSat constellation configuration achieving global coverage everyday. Finally, we recommend the CarbonSat constellation configuration that achieves daily global coverage.


Author(s):  
Stuart M. Cohen ◽  
John Fyffe ◽  
Gary T. Rochelle ◽  
Michael E. Webber

Coal consumption for electricity generation produces over 30% of U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, but coal is also an available, secure, and low cost fuel that is currently utilized to meet roughly half of America’s electricity demand. While the world transitions from the existing fossil fuel-based energy infrastructure to a sustainable energy system, carbon dioxide capture and sequestration (CCS) will be a critical technology that will allow continued use of coal in an environmentally acceptable manner. Techno-economic analyses are useful in understanding the costs and benefits of CCS. However, typical techno-economic analyses of post-combustion CO2 capture systems assume continuous operation at a high CO2 removal, which could use 30% of pre-capture electricity output and require new capacity installation to replace the output lost to CO2 capture energy requirements. This study, however, considers the inherent flexibility in post-combustion CO2 capture systems by modeling power plants that vary CO2 capture energy requirements in order to increase electricity output when economical under electricity market conditions. A first-order model of electricity dispatch and a competitive electricity market is used to investigate flexible CO2 capture in response to hourly electricity demand variations. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) electric grid is used as a case study to compare plant and grid performance, economics, and CO2 emissions in scenarios without CO2 capture to those with flexible or inflexible CO2 capture systems. Flexible CO2 capture systems can choose how much CO2 to capture based on the competition between CO2 and electricity prices and a desire to either minimize operating costs or maximize operating profits. Coal and natural gas prices have varying degrees of predictability and volatility, and the relative prices of these fuels have a major impact on power plant operating costs and the resulting plant dispatch sequence. Because the chosen operating point in a flexible CO2 capture system affects net power plant efficiency, fuel prices also influence which CO2 capture operating point may be the most economical and the resulting dispatch of power plants with CO2 capture. Several coal and natural gas price combinations are investigated to determine their impact on flexible CO2 capture operation and the resulting economic and environmental impacts at the power plant and electric grid levels. This study investigates the costs and benefits of flexible CO2 capture in a framework of a carbon-constrained future where the effects of major energy infrastructure changes on fuel prices are not entirely clear.


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