Energy and economic analysis feasibility of CO2 capture on a natural gas internal combustion engine

CO2 capture by amine scrubbing is a widely developed technology in its most advanced stage of evolution. However, it has never been used to capture CO2 from mobile sources. The present study performs an energy and economic analysis of an amine scrubbing CO2 capture storage (CCS) system, which takes for the amine regeneration process the waste heat from the exhaust gases of a turbocharged natural gas internal combustion engine (mobile source). The selected engine for the study is an M936G, widely used in freight and passenger transport. A primary and a tertiary amine were chosen for the simulations. In order to reduce volume and increase autonomy, captured CO2 is stored as a liquid, therefore, a specific installation is planned. The system is hybridised with an organic rankine cycle (ORC) to reduce the energy penalty on the CCS system. Results show that a CCS system operating with Monoethanolamine (MEA) at 30 wt% achieved a maximum CO2 capture rate of 66%, with a penalty over the power engine of only 10%. On the other hand, the economic analysis showed that the CCS system with MEA and without ORC is 31.8% cheaper than a hydrogen fuel cells bus and 26% cheaper than a battery-electric bus. (c) 2022 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Automated summary

This study presents an energy and economic analysis of using amine scrubbing technology for capturing CO2 from mobile sources. The results show that a CCS system operating with Monoethanolamine (MEA) at 30 wt% achieved a maximum CO2 capture rate of 66%, with a penalty over the power engine of only 10%. The economic analysis demonstrated that the MEA-based CCS system without organic rankine cycle (ORC) is more cost-effective than hydrogen fuel cells bus and battery-electric bus, with cost savings of 31.8% and 26% respectively.