Absorption-Based Post-Combustion Capture of Carbon Dioxide

Paul Feron

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780081005149
• eBook ISBN: 9780081005156
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Energy Industry
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Absorption-Based Post-Combustion Capture of Carbon Dioxide provides a comprehensive and authoritative review of the use of absorbents for post-combustion capture of carbon dioxide. As fossil fuel-based power generation technologies are likely to remain key in the future, at least in the short- and medium-term, carbon capture and storage will be a critical greenhouse gas reduction technique. Post-combustion capture involves the removal of carbon dioxide from flue gases after fuel combustion, meaning that carbon dioxide can then be compressed and cooled to form a safely transportable liquid that can be stored underground. - Provides researchers in academia and industry with an authoritative overview of the amine-based methods for carbon dioxide capture from flue gases and related processes - Editors and contributors are well known experts in the field - Presents the first book on this specific topic

Part One

Introductory issues

Outline

1. Introduction

2. The fundamentals of post-combustion capture

3. Conventional amine scrubbing for CO2 capture

4. Liquid absorbent selection criteria and screening procedures

1

Introduction

P.H.M. Feron CSIRO Energy, Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Abstract

Anticipated global CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel–fired power plants and industry, based on a business-as-usual scenario, will contribute to rising global temperatures and climate change. Alternate scenarios that aim to reduce emissions will require significant deployment of post-combustion CO₂ capture (PCC) in existing power plants and industrial facilities. Here we provide an insight into the drivers for the development of PCC processes as part of an overall CO₂ capture and storage chain. The ultimate goal of PCC research is to develop a cost-effective process that can be deployed in power plants and other industries, requires a minimum of additional energy, and has a negligible impact on the local environment. The commercial availability of liquid absorbent technology for acid gas treatment provides a good starting point, but considerable challenges face the adaptation, transformation, and improvement of this technology for power station flue gases. This book approaches these challenges from the angle of liquid absorbent–based processes, by revisiting the process fundamentals of CO₂ capture and reviewing aspects of CO₂ capture agents, PCC process design and integration, and environmental impacts.

Keywords

Absorption; Amines; Capture; Carbon dioxide; CCS; Post-Combustion

1.1. Climate change and greenhouse gas emissions

Since 1990 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has assessed “on a comprehensive, objective, open, and transparent basis the scientific, technical, and socioeconomic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation” (www.ippc.ch).

Five assessment reports available on the IPCC website provide a comprehensive, evolving overview of the causes and impacts of climate change. Some of the many detrimental global and local environmental effects predicted to occur because of climate change include loss of biodiversity, more extreme weather events, reduced agricultural production, ocean acidification, and less availability of freshwater.

Human-induced global climate change is strongly associated with industrial emissions of greenhouse gases, such as CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, and fluorinated gases. CO₂ emissions alone resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels and industrial processes are the single largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions (62% in 2010).

The IPCC's fifth assessment report stated that: “Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have increased since the preindustrial era, driven largely by economic and population growth, and are now higher than ever. This has led to atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide that are unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years. Their effects, together with t...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Related titles
• Copyright
• List of contributors
• Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy
• Part One. Introductory issues
• Part Two. Capture agents
• Part Three. Process design
• Part Four. Solvent degradation, emissions andwaste handling
• Part Five. Process integration and operation
• Index