Assessment of solid sorbents as a competitive post-combustion CO2 capture technology

Solid sorbents are believed to be a promising early-stage technology for achieving more cost-effective capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) from large point sources, especially coal-fired power plants. To better assess the potential advantages of solid sorbents for post-combustion CO2 capture, this paper presents preliminary results of an analysis of two representative sorbents in an integrated model for estimating plant-level performance and costs for a new, supercritical pulverized coal (PC) power plant. A probabilistic comparison is then made between two solid sorbents and a commercial amine-based liquid solvent system. Our results show that for a 90% CO2 removal efficiency, the solid sorbent provides an expected net plant efficiency of 32% (higher heating value basis) for a metal-organic framework solid and 29% efficiency for a solid amine-based sorbent, versus 28% net efficiency with a liquid amine- based system using the same reference plant assumptions. Cost estimates for solid sorbent systems, however, remain highly uncertain at this time, mainly because of large uncertainties in capital cost estimates.