Capturing CO2 from coal-fired power production facilities is a necessary component of any effort to reduce anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Monoethanolamine (MEA) absorption/stripping is the most likely current process for capturing the CO2 from flue gas; however, the energy costs of this process are equivalent to 15-30% of the total energy consumption of the power plant. This project will develop novel process schemes that can reduce these energy costs by up to 20%. Phase I will perform the engineering and economic analysis necessary to determine the feasibility of these schemes. Equipment will be sized and designed, the economics of full-scale installations will be determined, and a plan for integrating the improved MEA-based CO2 capture system into a coal-fired power plants operations will be prepared.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The new MEA stripper designs with lower costs should have direct benefit for those planning or otherwise involved in power plant CO2-capture projects
