Preliminary experimental study of post-combustion carbon capture integrated with solar thermal collectors

The amine-based chemical absorption for CO2 capture normally needs to extract steam from the steam turbine cycle for solvent regeneration. Integrating solar thermal energy enables the reduction of steam extraction and therefore, can reduce the energy penalty caused by CO2 capture. In this paper, a pilot system of the solar thermal energy assisted chemical absorption was built to investigate the system performance. Two types of solar thermal energy collectors, parabolic trough and linear Fresnel reflector, were tested. It was found that the values of operation parameters can meet the requirements of designed setting parameters, and the solar collectors can provide the thermal energy required by the reboiler, while its contribution was mainly determined by solar irradiation. The solvent regeneration was investigated by varying the heat input. The results show that the response time of the reboiler heat duty is longer than those of the reboiler temperature and desorber pressure. This work provides a better understanding about the overall operation and control of the system.