Dynamic Modeling and Evaluation of an Industrial-Scale CO2 Capture Plant Using Monoethanolamine Absorption Processes

This paper presents a step-by-step method to scale-up an MEA (monoethanolamine) absorption plant for CO2 capture from a 750 MW supercritical coal-fired power plant. This CO2 capture plant consists of three absorbers (each 11.8 m in diameter and with 34 m of height) and two strippers (each 10.4 m in diameter with 16 m of height); the plant has been designed to achieve 87% CO2 recovery at 95% CO2 purity. A dynamic mechanistic model of a commercial-scale CO2 capture plant with a control scheme was developed in gPROMS and evaluated under several scenarios. The analysis revealed that this plant is able to reject various disturbances and switch between different operating points displaying prompt responses in the key controlled variables. Also, this study highlights that poor wetting in strippers can be avoided if the CO2 capture removal set point is scheduled based on the periodic operation of the power plant.