Emission of carbon dioxide is considered to be the main cause of the greenhouse effect. Mineral carbonation, an important part of the CCS technology, is an attractive option for long-term CO2 sequestration. In this study, wollastonite was chosen as the feedstock and the feasibility of direct aqueous mineral carbonation in the simulated flue gas was investigated via a series of experimental studies carried in a stirred reactor. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), ion chro- matography (IC) and thermal decomposition were used to determine the carbonation conversion. The influences of various factors, including reaction temperature, reaction pressure, solution composition, heat-treatment and particle size, were dis- cussed. Concurrently, the effects of SO2 and NO presented in simulated flue gas were also investigated and a possible mecha- nism was used to explain the results. Experimental results show that reaction temperature, reaction pressure and particle size can effectively improve the carbonation reaction. Addition of 0.6 M NaHCO3 was also proved to be beneficial to the reaction and heat-treatment is not needed for wollastonite to get a higher carbonation conversion. Compared with carbonation in puri- fied CO2 gas, CO2 sequestration directly from simulated flue gas by mineral carbonation is suggested to have a certain degree of economic feasibility in the conditions of medium and low-pressure. A highest carbonation conversion of 35.9% is gained on the condition of T=150℃, P=40 bar and PS 〈30 μ in distilled water for 1 h.
A two-dimensional transient model has been developed to describe the catalytic methane reforming (MSR) coupled with simultaneous CO2 removal by different absorbents under non-isothermal, non-isobaric and non-adiabatic operating conditions. The influences of temperature, pressure and steam/carbon (S/C) on enhancement were taken into account. The results showed that the hydrogen mole fraction (dry basis) higher than 94% could be achieved using Li4SiO4, CaO, and HTC as CO2 acceptors at the operating conditions of 550~C and 0.1 MPa. When the reaction temperature varied from 500℃ to 600℃, the initial CO2 capture rates were HTC〉CaO〉Li4SiO4〉LizZrO3, and the saturation rates HTC〉CaO〉Li4SiOg〉Li2ZrO3. Increasing the reaction temperature would improve the CO2 capture rate and available CO2 capacity. For Li4SiO4, although the adsorbing rate increased as the operating temperature increased, the capacity almost did not change. At 550℃, increasing the working pressure could promote the enhancing factors of Li4SiO4,Li2ZrO3 and HTC. There was an optimal steam/carbon ratio between 2-4.5 such that all CaO, Li4SiO4, HTC and Li2ZrO3 would obtain the biggest enhancement for H2 production at the pre-breakthrough stage.
In this study, a detailed technical-economic analysis on a O2/CO2 recycle combustion power plant (Oxy-combustion plant) retrofitted from the existing coal-fired plant (with a capacity of 2×300 MW) in China was carried out by using life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost (LCC) method. The CO2 emissions, investment cost, cost of electricity and CO2 avoidance cost within the life cycle were calculated respectively. The results showed that the CO2 emission avoidance rate of retrofitted Oxy-combustion plant in the life cycle was about 77.09% without taking account of the CO2 compression; the annual cost increased by 5.9% approximately, the net power decreased by 21.33%, the cost of electricity increased by 34.77%, and the CO2 avoidance cost was about 28.93 USD/t. Considering the compression process of CO2, the avoidance rate of CO2 emission was about 73.35% or so; the annual cost increased by 9.35% approximately, the net power decreased by about 26.70%, the cost of electricity increased by 49.13%, and the CO2 avoidance cost was about 45.46 USD/t. The carbon tax (the CO2 tax) should be more than about 24 USD/t and 34 USD/t under the condition of considering CO2 compression or not, respectively, which is beneficial to promote transformation of existing coal-fired plant for reducing the CO2 emissions.
WANG Yun, ZHAO YongChun, ZHANG JunYing & ZHENG ChuGuang State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
An exergy life cycle assessment(ELCA) model based on life cycle assessment(LCA) and exergy methodology was developed to assess a 2×300 MW coal-fired power plant,and the results indicated that the exergy input in operation phase of power plant accounts for 99.89% of the total input and only 0.11% in construction and decommission phases. Direct and indirect exergy inputs account for 93.03% and 6.97%,respectively. Compared with coal-fired power generation system before carbon emission reduction,exergy input-output ratio of life cycle "CO2 zero-emission" energy system and exergy efficiency are about 5.563 and 17.97%,respectively,which increases by 62.47% and declines by 11.21% approximately. The model quantifies the energy,resource consumption and pollutant emissions of system life cycle using exergy as the basic physical parameter,which will make the assessment more objective and reasonable.
WANG YunZHANG JunYingZHAO YongChunLI ZhongYuanZHENG ChuGuang