Performance analysis for post-combustion CO2 capture in coal-fired power plants by integration with solar energy

This study conducts the performance analysis for post-combustion CO2 capture in a 300 MWe coal-fired power plant by integration with solar energy. Compared to the conventional system integration by steam bleed, the electric efficiency of solar energy reaches 18.92% and the net electric efficiency penalty is reduced from 16.81% to 6.93%. For the economic performance, the integration of solar energy brings additional fixed capital in-vestment (FCI) of 140.95 M$ and the cost of electricity by solar energy (COEsolar) reaches 164.23 $/MWh. Besides, in spite of an increased investment of the whole integrated system, the saved power output by solar energy enables a reduction of cost of electricity (COE) and cost of CO2 avoided (COA) by 14.89 $/MWh and 22.83 $/t CO2. Finally, by absorption heat pump (AHP) and absorption heat exchanger (AHE), the low temperature heat in the CO2 capture process is fully recovered to increase the steam turbine electric output from 303.03 MWe to 310.47 MWe and the heat supply from 436.86 MWth to 709.54 MWth, which realize the heat integration among the steam cycle, the CO2 capture process and the solar energy system.

Automated summary

This study conducts a performance analysis on the integration of post-combustion CO2 capture and solar energy in a coal-fired power plant. The results show that the integration of solar energy can significantly improve the electric efficiency and reduce costs. The use of absorption heat pump and absorption heat exchanger enables heat integration among the steam cycle, the CO2 capture process, and the solar energy system.