Energy-saving pathway exploration of CCS integrated with solar energy: Literature research and comparative analysis

One of main technical barriers to a large-scale application of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is a significant amount of required energy, e.g., regeneration heat of solvent in the chemical absorption system. Thus, energy consumption and corresponding high operation cost become two primary challenges for the promotion of CCS technology. Meanwhile, energy from the solar source in various forms has already been successfully used as an effective alternative supply in the industrial section for drying, heating and even cooling. Thus, integrating solar energy utilization into the CCS process could be a reasonable option for a sustainable development. A comparative analysis of CCS integrated with solar energy was presented in this paper based on the existing researches. The current status on typical configuration structure, feature and energy-efficiency performance of integrating options is reviewed for post-combustion, pre-combustion and oxygen-combustion systems. Based on these typical CO2 capture systems, a theoretical analysis is conducted for an energy-efficient comparison. Then four typical structures of the post-combustion system, which are highlighted in the review, are chosen as comparative objects for energy-saving and techno-economic evaluation. The results show that systems with a solar-assisted thermal energy and power generation have comparative advantages in term of carbon emission intensity, but the economic cost is increased under the current conditions of the equipment price. Compared to that of baseline case, carbon emission intensity of the case integrated with solar Organic Rankine Cycle can be reduced with a maximum decline of 9.73%, meanwhile the levelized costs of electricity increases 0.01 USD/kW h correspondingly. (c) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.