A unified model for the deployment of carbon capture and storage

This paper presents a comprehensive unified model for planning the retrofit of power plants with carbon capture (CC) technologies and the subsequent carbon dioxide (CO2) source-sink matching. The planning horizon is divided into time intervals that are not necessarily of equal duration, but which represent time slices generated by specific events (e.g. start and end of plant operation) occurring in the system as well as the required degree of flexibility in planning. In carbon capture and storage (CCS) systems, CO2 sources have variable flow rates and fixed operating lives, while CO2 sinks have finite injection rate and storage capacity limits, as well as earliest times of availability. The model takes into account such physical and temporal considerations, and also accounts for the need for additional power generation to compensate for energy loss penalties resulting from the capture of CO2. A case is used to demonstrate the application of the proposed model. Sensitivity analyses are carried out to examine the tradeoff between carbon emissions reduction and power cost, as well as the effects of uncertainties in sink characteristics and properties of compensatory power on CCS.