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Review
. 2017;4(1):5-14.
doi: 10.1007/s40789-017-0159-0. Epub 2017 Feb 27.

Current status and future development of solvent-based carbon capture

Eni Oko  1 , Meihong Wang  1 , Atuman S Joel  2
Affiliations
Review

Current status and future development of solvent-based carbon capture

Eni Oko et al. Int J Coal Sci Technol. 2017.

Abstract

Solvent-based carbon capture is the most commercially-ready technology for economically and sustainably reaching carbon emission reduction targets in the power sector. Globally, the technology has been deployed to deal with flue gases from large scale power plants and different carbon-intensive industries. The success of the technology is due to significant R&D activities on the process development and decades of industrial experience on acid gas removal processes from gaseous mixtures. In this paper, current status of PCC based on chemical absorption-commercial deployment and demonstration projects, analysis of different solvents and process configurations-is reviewed. Although some successes have been recorded in developing this technology, its commercialization has been generally slow as evidenced in the cancellation of high profile projects across the world. This is partly due to the huge cost burden of the technology and unpredictable government policies. Different research directions, namely new process development involving process intensification, new solvent development and a combination of both, are discussed in this paper as possible pathways for reducing the huge cost of the technology.

Keywords: Chemical absorption; Post-combustion CO2 capture (PCC); Process intensification; Solvents.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Diagram of PCC process based on chemical absorption (IPCC 2005)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Alternative configurations a absorber inter-cooling, b multi-pressure stripping, c split solvent flow, d lean solvent flash (Ahn et al. 2013)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
LCOE scenario for different solvents compared to MEA solvent (IEAGHG 2014)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Commercial demonstration of RPB for desulfurization (Qian et al. 2012)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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