Optimal Process Design of Commercial-Scale Amine-Based CO2 Capture Plants

Reactive absorption with an aqueous solution of amines in an absorber/stripper loop is the most mature technology for postcombustion CO2 capture (PCC). However, most of the commercial-scale CO2 capture plant designs that have been reported in the open literature are based on values of CO2 loadings and/or solvent circulation rates without an openly available techno-economic consideration. As a consequence, most of the reported designs may be suboptimal, and some of them appear to be unrealistic from practical and operational viewpoints. In this paper, four monoethanolamine (MEA) based CO2 capture plants have been optimally designed for both gas-fired and coal-fired power plants based on process and economic analyses. We have found that the optimum lean CO2 loading for MEA-based CO2 capture plants that can service commercial-scale power plants, whether natural-gas-fired or coal-fired, is about 0.2 mol/mol for absorber and stripper columns packed with Sulzer Mellapak 250Y structured packing. Also, the optimum liquid/gas ratio for a natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plant with a flue gas composition of approximately 4 mol % CO2 is about 0.96, while the optimum liquid/gas ratio for a pulverized-coal-fired (PC) power plant can range from 2.68 to 2.93 for a flue gas having a CO2 composition that ranges from 12.38 to 13.50 mol %

Estimation of the Pitzer Parameters for 1–1, 2–1, 3–1, 4–1, and 2–2 Single Electrolytes at 25 °C

The Pitzer model is one of the most important thermodynamic models to predict the behavior of aqueous electrolyte solutions, especially at high ionic strengths. However, most of the parameters in the Pitzer equations have to be obtained experimentally and this represents an important drawback to this model. Therefore, in order to make the Pitzer equations less dependent on experimental data and more dependent on the properties of the solution, new equations that correlate the Pitzer equations with the properties of the solution have been successfully developed for 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1 and 2-2 electrolytes. In particular, these equations were developed for two cases: (i) considers the original Pitzer equations and (ii) considers some simplifications to the Pitzer equation (assuming CMX , BMX (2) and 2 = 0). In particular, for case (ii), the second virial coefficients BMX (0) and BMX (1) of the Pitzer equations were re-estimated using published experimental data of the osmotic coefficient obtained from the literature. As a conclusion, both the simplified and the original Pitzer equations presented a very good match with this published experimental data for the osmotic coefficients. Additionally, the second virial coefficients BMX (0) and BMX (1) for both cases were successfully correlated with the ionic radius and the ionic charge, and this is confirmed by the very high coefficients of determination achieved (R2>0.96). However, these new equations are valid only to cases in which no significant ion association occurs, which is also the basic premise of the original Pitzer model

Effect of the CO2 enhancement on the performance of a micro gas turbine with a pilot-scale CO2 capture plant

Gas turbines are a viable and secure option both economically and environmentally for combined heat and power generation. Process modelling of a micro gas turbine for CO2 injection and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is performed. Further, this study is extended to assess the effect of the CO2 injection on the pilot-scale CO2 capture plant integrated with a micro gas turbine. In addition, the impact of the EGR on the thermodynamic properties of the fluid at different locations of the micro gas turbine is also evaluated. The micro gas turbine and CO2 injection models are validated against the set of experimental data and the performance analysis of the EGR cycle results in CO2 enhancement to 5.04 mol% and 3.5 mol%, respectively. The increased CO2 concentration in the flue gas, results in the specific reboiler duty decrease by 20.5 % for pilot-scale CO2 capture plant at 90 % CO2 capture rate for 30 wt. % MEA aqueous solution. The process system analysis for the validated models results in a much better comprehension of the impact of the CO2 enhancement on the process behaviour

Dynamic economic and emission dispatch model considering wind power under Energy Market Reform: A case study

With the increasing issues in the environmental and the high requirement for energy, the Energy Market Reform (EMR) was introduced by the UK government. This paper develops a novel Dynamic Economic and Emission Dispatch (DEED) model for a combined conventional and wind power system incorporating the carbon price floor (CPF) and the Emission Performance Standard (EPS) that is supported by the EMR. The proposed model aims to determine the optimal operation strategy for the given system on power dispatch taking into account wind power waste and reserve and also the environmental aspect, especially the CPF of greenhouse gases and the emission limit of the EPS for different decarbonisation scenarios. Case studies for the demand profile in the Sheffield region in the UK with different time intervals is presented. The results indicate that renewable power is superior in both the economics and emissions to a mid to long-term energy strategy in the UK

Techno-economic process design of a commercial-scale amine-based CO2 capture system for natural gas combined cycle power plant with exhaust gas recirculation

Post-combustion CO2 capture systems are gaining more importance as a means of reducing escalating greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, for natural gas-fired power generation systems, exhaust gas recirculation is a method of enhancing the CO2 concentration in the lean flue gas. The present study reports the design and scale-up of four different cases of an amine-based CO2 capture system at 90% capture rate with 30 wt.% aqueous solution of MEA. The design results are reported for a natural gas-fired combined cycle system with a gross power output of 650 MWe without EGR and with EGR at 20%, 35% and 50% EGR percentage. A combined process and economic analysis is implemented to identify the optimum designs for the different amine-based CO2 capture plants. For an amine-based CO2 capture plant with a natural gas-fired combined cycle without EGR, an optimum liquid to gas ratio of 0.96 is estimated. Incorporating EGR at 20%, 35% and 50%, results in optimum liquid to gas ratios of 1.22, 1.46 and 1.90, respectively. These results suggest that a natural gas-fired power plant with exhaust gas recirculation will result in lower penalties in terms of the energy consumption and costs incurred on the amine-based CO2 capture plant

Patterned hydrophobic gas diffusion layers for enhanced water management in polymer electrolyte fuel cells

Flooding of the cathode due to water accumulation is one of the biggest limiting factors in the performance of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). This study therefore attempts to solve this issue by fabricating gas diffusion layers (GDLs) with differently patterned hydrophobic regions. The GDLs in three different patterns (triangular, diamond, and inverted-triangular) were prepared by brushing a Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) solution onto commercial carbon papers through a mask and tested in PEFCs. The patterned GDLs results in superior performance in all cases compared to a uniformly PTFE-treated GDL. Notably, the oxygen transport resistance is significantly reduced, indicating that the water accumulation in the cathode is avoided. This is attributed to the patterned hydrophobicity gradient providing distinct pathways for water and oxygen. The GDL with triangular patterning displays the highest peak power density, due to the fact that the untreated less hydrophobic region is in direct contact with the cathode outlet in this case, facilitating the removal of excess liquid water. Overall, the study confirms that the GDLs with patterned hydrophobicity could be used to enhance the performance of commercial PEFC systems by facilitating water management, potentially leading to improved efficiency and durability

The Influence of Solvent Selection upon the Crystallizability and Nucleation Kinetics of Tolfenamic Acid Form II

The influence of the solution environment on the solution thermodynamics, crystallizability, and nucleation of tolfenamic acid (TFA) in five different solvents (isopropanol, ethanol, methanol, toluene, and acetonitrile) is examined using an integrated workflow encompassing both experimental studies and intermolecular modeling. The solubility of TFA in isopropanol is found to be the highest, consistent with the strongest solvent–solute interactions, and a concomitantly higher than ideal solubility. The crystallizability is found to be highly dependent on the solvent type with the overall order being isopropanol < ethanol < methanol < toluene < acetonitrile with the widest solution metastable zone width in isopropanol (24.49 to 47.41 °C) and the narrowest in acetonitrile (8.23 to 16.17 °C). Nucleation is found to occur via progressive mechanism in all the solvents studied. The calculated nucleation parameters reveal a considerably higher interfacial tension and larger critical nucleus radius in the isopropanol solutions, indicating the higher energy barrier hindering nucleation and hence lowering the nucleation rate. This is supported by diffusion coefficient measurements which are lowest in isopropanol, highlighting the lower molecular diffusion in the bulk of solution compared to the other solutions. The TFA concentration and critical supersaturation at the crystallization onset is found to be directly correlated with TFA/isopropanol solutions having the highest values of solubility and critical supersaturation. Intermolecular modeling of solute–solvent interactions supports the experimental observations of the solubility and crystallizability, highlighting the importance of understanding solvent selection and solution state structure at the molecular level in directing the solubility, solute mass transfer, crystallizability, and nucleation kinetics

The complete chloroplast genome of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) and comparative analysis within the family poaceae

The complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br.), an important grain and forage crop in the family Poaceae, is reported in this study. The complete cp genome sequence of P. glaucum is 138,172 bp in length with 38.6% overall GC content and exhibits a typical quadripartite structure comprising one pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions (22,275 bp) separated by a small single-copy (SSC) region (12,409 bp) and a large single-copy (LSC) region (81,213). The P. glaucum cp genome encodes 110 unique genes, 76 of which are protein-coding genes, 4 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, 30 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes and 18 duplicated genes in the IR region. Nine genes contain one or two introns. Whole genome alignments of cp genome were performed for genome-wide comparison. Locally collinear blocks (LCBs) identified among the cp genomes showed that they were well conserved with respect to gene organization and order. This newly determined cp genome sequence of P. glaucum will provide valuable information for the future breeding programs of valuable cereal crops in the family Poaceae

Real-time visualization of a sparse parametric mixture model for BTF rendering

Bidirectional Texture Functions (BTF) allow high quality visualization of real world materials exhibiting complex appearance and details that can not be faithfully represented using simpler analytical or parametric representations. Accurate representations of such materials require huge amounts of data, hindering real time rendering. BTFs compress the raw original data, constituting a compromise between visual quality and rendering time. This paper presents an implementation of a state of the art BTF representation on the GPU, allowing interactive high fidelity visualization of complex geometric models textured with multiple BTFs. Scalability with respect to the geometric complexity, amount of lights and number of BTFs is also studied.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologi

Optimisation and characterisation of graphene-based microporous layers for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

The viability of graphene-based microporous layers (MPLs) for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells is critically assessed through detailed characterisation of the morphology, microstructure, transport properties and electrochemical characterisation. Microporous layer composition was optimised by the fabrication of several hybrid MPLs produced from various ratios of graphene to Vulcan carbon black. Single cell tests were performed at various relative humidities between 25% and 100% at 80 °C, in order to provide a detailed understanding of the effect of the graphene-based MPL composition on the fuel cell performance. The inclusion of graphene in the MPL alters the pores size distribution of the layer and results in presence of higher amount of mesopores. Polarisation curves indicate that a small addition of graphene (i.e. 30 wt %) in the microporous layer improves the fuel cell performance under low humidity conditions (e.g. 25% relative humidity). On the other hand, under high humidity conditions (≥50% relative humidity), adding higher amounts of graphene (≥50 wt %) improves the fuel cell performance as it creates a good amount of mesopores required to drive excess water away from the cathode electrode, particularly when operating with high current densities