Superstructure-based optimal design of PSA cycles for post-combustion CO2 capture
Recent developments have shown pressure/vacuum swing adsorption (PSA/VSA) to be a promising option to effectively capture CO2 from flue gas streams. In most commercial PSA cycles, the weakly adsorbed component in the mixture is the desired product, and enriching the strongly adsorbed CO2 is not a concern. Thus, it is necessary to develop PSA processes specifically targeted to obtain pure strongly adsorbed component. So far, no systematic methodology has been suggested in the literature to design PSA cycles for high purity CO2 capture. This study addresses this need and presents a systematic optimization-based formulation to synthesize PSA cycles. In particular, a novel PSA superstructure is presented to design optimal PSA cycle configurations and evaluate CO2 capture strategies. The superstructure is rich enough to predict a number of different PSA operating steps. The bed connections in the superstructure are governed by timedependent control variables, which can be varied to realize most PSA operating steps. An optimal sequence of operating steps is achieved through the formulation of an optimal control problem with the partial differential and algebraic equations of the PSA system and the cyclic steady state condition. The superstructure approach is demonstrated for case studies related to post-combustion CO2 capture. In particular, optimal PSA cycles were synthesized which maximize CO2 recovery for a given purity, and minimize overall power consumption. The results show the potential of the superstructure to predict PSA cycles with up to 98% purity and recovery of CO2. Moreover, for recovery of around 85% and purity of over 90%, these cycles can recover CO2 from atmospheric flue gas with a low power consumption of 465 kWh/tonne CO2. The approach presented is, therefore, very promising and quite useful for evaluating the suitability of different adsorbents, feedstocks and operating strategies for PSA, and assessing its usefulness for CO2 capture.
- Research Organization:
- National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, and Morgantown, WV (United States). In-house Research; National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy (FE)
- OSTI ID:
- 1014012
- Report Number(s):
- NETL-TPR-2480; TRN: US201110%%869
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 26th Annual International Pittsburgh Coal Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, September 21-24, 2009
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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