Analysis of Integration of MEA-Based CO 2 Capture and Solar Energy System for Coal-Based Power Plants Based on Thermo-Economic Structural Theory

Rongrong Zhai, Hongtao Liu, Hao Wu, Hai Yu and Yongping Yang
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Rongrong Zhai: School of Energy Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
Hongtao Liu: School of Energy Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
Hao Wu: School of Energy Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
Hai Yu: CSIRO Energy, 10 Murray Dwyer Circuit, Mayfield West, NSW 2304, Australia
Yongping Yang: School of Energy Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 5, 1-30

Abstract: Installing CO 2 capture plants in coal-fired power stations will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help mitigate climate change. However, the deployment of this technology faces many obstacles—in particular, high energy consumption. Aiming to address this challenge, we investigated the integration of a solar energy system in a 1000 MW coal-fired power plant equipped with monoethanolamine (MEA)-based CO 2 capture (termed PG-CC) by comparing the thermo-economic performance of two integrated systems with that of PG-CC. In the first system, solar-aided coal-fired power generation equipped with MEA-based CO 2 capture (SA-PG-CC), solar thermal was used to heat the high-pressure feed water in the power plant, while the reboiler duty of the capture plant’s stripper was provided by extracted low-pressure steam from the power plant. The second system integrated the power plant with solar-aided MEA-based CO 2 capture (SA-CC-PG), using solar thermal to heat the stripper’s reboiler. Both systems were simulated in EBSILON Professional and Aspen Plus and analysed using thermo-economics theory. We then evaluated each system’s thermodynamic and economic performance in terms of power generation and CO 2 capture. Compared with PG-CC, the thermo-economic cost of electricity increased by 12.71% in SA-PG-CC and decreased by 9.77% in SA-CC-PG. The unit thermo-economic cost of CO 2 was similar in both the PG-CC and SA-PG-CC systems, but significantly greater in SA-CC-PG. Overall, SA-PG-CC produced less power but used energy more effectively than SA-CC-PG. From a thermo-economic point of view, SA-PG-CC is therefore a better choice than SA-CC-PG.

Keywords: MEA-based CO 2 capture; solar energy system; coal-fired power generation; thermo-economic theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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