Pre-combustion CO2 capture

This paper, which is part of a special issue of the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, gives an overview of the latest achievements in the pre-combustion decarbonisation route for the production of electricity with CO2 capture. Pre-combustion technologies applied to two different fuels are considered, natural gas and coal, since they cover most of electricity production from fossil fuels worldwide. The work first discusses in detail the different sections in which a power plant with pre-combustion CO2 capture can be divided. For each section, the available technologies with corresponding advantages and disadvantages are presented. Next, the plant lay-outs for natural gas and coal proposed in literature, including heat & mass balances and the economic assessment, are discussed. In general, research activity in pre-combustion decarbonisation for power production focused more on coal than on natural gas-based plant since in the latter case the plant complexity and costs are not competitive with post-combustion CO2 capture, which is a technology on the verge of commercialization. Finally the paper briefly discusses pre-combustion CO2 capture in industry especially those projects where CO2 is captured and stored or used for EOR.