Assessment of solid sorbents as a competitive post-combustion CO2 capture technology

Solid sorbents are believed to be a promising early-stage technology for achieving more cost-effective capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) from large point sources, especially coal-fired power plants. To better assess the potential advantages of solid sorbents for post-combustion CO2 capture, this paper presents preliminary results of an analysis of two representative sorbents in an integrated model for estimating plant-level performance and costs for a new, supercritical pulverized coal (PC) power plant. A probabilistic comparison is then made between two solid sorbents and a commercial amine-based liquid solvent system. Our results show that for a 90% CO2 removal efficiency, the solid sorbent provides an expected net plant efficiency of 32% (higher heating value basis) for a metal-organic framework solid and 29% efficiency for a solid amine-based sorbent, versus 28% net efficiency with a liquid amine-based system using the same reference plant assumptions. Cost estimates for solid sorbent systems, however, remain highly uncertain at this time, mainly because of large uncertainties in capital cost estimates. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.