Pilot Testing of a Highly Efficient Pre-combustion Sorbent-based Carbon Capture System
TDA developed and demonstrated a highly efficient pre-combustion carbon capture system (DE-FE-0013105). The overall objective of this work was to develop a new sorbent-based pre-combustion carbon capture technology for Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plants. In this project our goal was to demonstrate the techno-economic viability of the new technology by 1) demonstrating it in large-scale slipstream tests, and 2) carrying out a high fidelity engineering and cost analysis. TDA’s process used an advanced physical adsorbent that selectively removes CO2 from coal-derived synthesis gas above the dew point of the gas at temperatures as high as 300°C. The sorbent consisted of a mesoporous carbon whose surface was grafted with functional groups that remove CO2 via a well-known acid-base interaction. Because the sorbent operates above the dew point of the synthesis gas (unlike the SelexolTM process) a higher power cycle efficiency can be achieved. In this project TDA Research, in collaboration with our partners Gas Technology Institute (GTI), Illinois Clean Coal Institute (ICCI), University of California, Irvine (UCI), University of Alberta (UOA), Siemens, NCCC and Sinopec advanced the technical maturity of the technology. We optimized the reactor design using computational fluid dynamics (CFD); using adsorption modeling we improved the pressure swing adsorption (PSA) cycle sequence. We carried out two field test campaigns with a fully-equipped 0.1 MWe prototype unit (for a total of 844 hours) using actual synthesis gas to prove the viability of the new technology. A successful 30 day (707 hrs) evaluation was completed at NCCC under air blown gasification conditions. We demonstrated 97.3% carbon capture at 1,500 SLPM, 93% carbon capture at 1,800 SLPM, and 90% carbon capture at 2,100 SLPM in the NCCC tests. We also demonstrated the system for 137 hours under oxygen blown gasification demonstrating 86% carbon capture at 2,660 SLPM. The results of the techno-economic analysis suggested that TDA’s high temperature PSA-based Warm Gas Clean-up Technology can make a substantial improvement in the IGCC plant thermal performance for achieving near zero CO2 emissions for IGCC power plants when using E-GasTM, GE, Shell and TRIGTM gasifiers. The capital expenses are also estimated to be lower than that of Selexol’s™. The 1st year cost of electricity with the transport, storage and monitoring (TS&M) costs for the CO2 included was $129.2/MWh for the E-Gas gasifier Warm Gas Cleanup Case, $131.9/MWh for the GE gasifier Warm gas Cleanup Case, $146.8/MWh for the Shell Gasifier Warm Gas Cleanup Case, and $129.9/MWh for the TRIGTM gasifier Warm Gas Cleanup Case while that for the Cold Gas Case with E-GasTM gasifier was $146.6/MWh, with GE gasifier was $142.2/MWh, with Shell gasifier was $159.0/MWh, and with TRIGTM gasifier was $144.3/MWh (a decrease of 7 to 12% over the corresponding baseline DOE Cold Gas Cleanup cases).
- Research Organization:
- TDA Research, Inc.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FE0013105
- OSTI ID:
- 1906872
- Type / Phase:
- SBIR (Phase II)
- Report Number(s):
- TDA-R-2201-007-FR; TDA R-2201-007 FR
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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