Evaluation of Concentrated Piperazine for CO2 Capture from Coal-Fired Flue Gas (Final Report, REV0)
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). CO2 Capture Pilot Plant Project (PSTC)
- Trimeric Corporation, Buda, TX (United States)
- URS Group, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
Concentrated piperazine (PZ) is a novel solvent being developed by the University of Texas at Austin (UT) for CO2 capture from coal-fired power plants. The high thermal stability of PZ permits solvent regeneration at higher temperature (150 °C) and pressure, reducing compression capital and operating costs. The purpose of Cooperative Agreement DE-FE0005654, Evaluation of Concentrated Piperazine for CO2 Capture from Coal-Fired Flue Gas, was to gain operational experience using PZ solvent to absorb CO2 and explore novel, high-temperature processes for solvent regeneration. The pilot-scale test campaigns funded under this project have resulted in the continual improvement in the heat duty of the regeneration systems and solvent and equipment optimization. This document summarizes the results from the Phase 1 (2011, 2013 and 2015) and Phase 2 (2018) test campaigns. In Phase 1, the campaign was conducted on synthetic flue gas at the University of Texas’ Separations Research Program (SRP) facility to investigate CO2 capture with 5 and 8 molal (5$$m$$ and 8$$m$$) PZ and two-stage flash (2SF) and advanced flash stripper (AFS) regeneration designs. Phase 1 testing also investigated techniques for measuring amine aerosol that can be generated during operation, and the effect of absorber operating conditions and sulfur containing compounds in the flue gas on aerosol generation. This testing showed that the AFS represents an optimized amine regeneration system with superior energy performance and simple operability over the 2SF or a simple stripper (SS), that 5$$m$$ PZ provides an economic and operability advantage over 8$$m$$ PZ, and that phase doppler interferometry (PDI) can provide useful particle size information on amine aerosol. In Phase 2, the campaign was conducted on coal-fired flue gas at the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) to investigate CO2 capture with 5$$m$$ PZ and the AFS. The PZ solvent was also used with an existing SS at the NCCC to provide comparison with the AFS performance. Additionally, the campaign investigated the effect of flue gas SO3 on amine aerosol from the CO2 absorber. The NCCC pilot plant testing demonstrated the robustness of the PZ solvent and the high energy performance of the AFS provided significant improvements in energy performance over the conventional SS for PZ and other solvents, and approached the DOE’s economic targets for second generation carbon capture technologies. Extended testing allowed the project team to demonstrate reliable long-term operation of this novel regeneration technology and solvent combination. EPRI, Luminant, B&W, LG&E, Chevron, Southern Company, and UT are project co-funders. UT and Trimeric were project team members. URS Group was the prime contractor.
- Research Organization:
- URS Group, Inc., Austin, TX (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FE0005654
- OSTI ID:
- 1512446
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-URS-5654-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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