Integration of a chemical process model in a power plant modelling tool for the simulation of an amine based CO2 scrubber

Post-combustion is considered among the different options for CO2 capture as the most mature available technology. All major components of the CO2 absorption/desorption process are commercially available but at a smaller scale, and they are not integrated and optimized for the application in power plants. Therefore, it is still to be demonstrated that this process is a viable option for the capture of CO2 at power plants. The amine scrubbing process with standard solvents is highly energy demanding due to solvent regeneration and CO2 compression. This is a significant energy sink for the power plant and efficiency can be reduced up to 16%-points. In order to minimise the energy penalty, complete integration and optimization of the capture and the power plant processes are necessary.Simulations of the power plant cycle and the amine scrubbing system have been performed with specialized software. The results of the integration are discussed.