Application of A Heat-Integrated Post-combustion CO2 Capture System with Hitachi Advanced Solvent into Existing Coal-Fired Power Plant

The objectives of the proposed investigation are to: 1) Develop and deploy a novel heat integration scheme. 2) Determine the performance of the Hitachi H3-1 advanced solvent at the proposed condition and scale. 3) Collect the necessary information/data on mass and energy balance, solvent degradation (rate and products), and corrosion to provide a full techno-economic and environmental, health and safety analysis at a 550 MWe commercial scale level. In the proposed research, an innovative heat integration method is proposed that would utilize waste heat from a carbon capture system for heat integration while improving steam turbine efficiency. The proposed process also implements a process concept (working with the heat integration method) that increases solvent capacity and capture rate in the CO2 scrubber. The process utilizes an advanced solvent system that has several advantages over conventional amine solvents such as 30 wt% monoethanolamine. For example, the solvent exhibits lower heat of regeneration, higher capacity, and lower solvent degradation. Assuming the same degree of heat integration as the DOE reference case, and the same CO2 compression technology, the proposed process coupled with advance solvent could drop the twenty-year levelized incremental cost of electricity from 46.3 to 23.3 mills/kWh excluding transportation, storage and monitoring cost as well as the direct fixed operation cost associated with carbon capture system and make-up power production. The novel concepts and advanced solvent used in this study on the 0.7 MWe slipstream facility will significantly improve the overall plant efficiency when integrated with CO2 capture system, and can be utilized to retrofit existing coal-fired power plants. The impacts of this slipstream project towards achieving DOE’s overall goals of this FOA include: (1) gathering the required FOA information; (2) demonstration of a low-cost post-combustion CO2 capture process to improve the economics of a national greenhouse gas sequestration program; (3) verification and characterization of steel and new material coatings; (4) demonstration of heat integration techniques that could improve overall power plant efficiency; (5) developing a protocol for solvent and water management from various slipstream testing sites to guide the commercial-scale post-combustion carbon capture system operation; and (6) maintaining a vibrant and low-cost power industry based on coal, and preserving our existing coal-fired electricity generation fleet.