Post-combustion carbon capture technologies: Energetic analysis and life cycle assessment

Xiangping Zhang*, Bhawna Singh, Xuezhong He, Truls Gundersen, Liyuan Deng, Suojiang Zhang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

58 Scopus citations

Abstract

An integrated framework focusing on the energetic analysis and environmental impacts of a CO2 capture and storage (CCS) system is presented, in which the process simulation method and the life cycle assessment (LCA) method are integrated and applied to the CCS value chain. Three scenarios for carbon capture from post-combustion power plant - an MEA-based system, a gas separation membrane process and a hybrid membrane-cryogenic process are studied. The energy efficiency of power plant and the specific capture energy consumption for each scenario are estimated from process simulation. The environmental impacts for each scenario and the base case without CCS are assessed with LCA method. The results show that the MEA-based capture system faces the challenges of higher energy consumption, and higher environmental impact caused by solvent degradation and emissions compared to gas membrane separation processes. The hybrid membrane-cryogenic process shows a better environmental potential for CO2 capture from flue gases due to much lower power consumption and relatively lower environmental impacts.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)289-298
Number of pages10
JournalInternational Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control
Volume27
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Carbon capture
  • Cryogenic process
  • Gas separation membrane
  • Hybrid membrane-cryogenic process
  • Life cycle assessment
  • Process simulation

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