Process synthesis for amine-based CO₂ capture from combined cycle gas turbine power plant

The study provides technoeconomic evaluations of advanced MEA-based Post-Combustion CO₂ Capture (PCCC) process configurations applied to a 750 MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power plant. Rigorous rate-based model of the PCCC process developed in Aspen Plus was validated and then used to study synergistic effects of combining three process configurations in one flowsheet using energy and levelized cost of capture as key performance indicators (KPIs). The results of the energy and economic analysis elucidate that Absorber Inter Cooling (AIC) + Rich Solvent Split (RSS) + Lean Vapor Compression (LVC) is the optimal combination of MEA-based PCCC process as it provided minimum regeneration energy (2.80 GJ/t_CO2) and levelized capture cost (72.7 $/t_CO2) representing an overall energy and cost savings of 6.25% and 8.95%, respectively. The study demonstrates that the usage of single KPI such as energy savings can provide misleading results. For example, combination of AIC + RSS + Inter Heated Stripper (IHS) provided maximum equivalent energy savings (3.50%), however, it did not result in highest cost savings due to high capital and operating costs of additional heater and pump. Overall, the study underlines the potential of advanced mature technologies on energy and cost reductions.