Techno-Economic Study of Adsorption Processes for Pre-Combustion Carbon Capture at a Biomass CHP Plant

An exemplary 10 MWth biomass CHP plant with a FICFB (Fast Internally Circulating Fluidised Bed) gasifier and Jenbacher type 6 gas engine was simulated to estimate the power and thermal outputs. The biomass-fuelled CHP plant was modified for carbon capture using either adsorption or amine process. It was found that a two-stage, two-bed PVSA (Pressure Vacuum Swing Adsorption) unit applied to syngas stream for pre-combustion capture spent less specific energy per captured CO2 than a conventional amine process for post-combustion carbon capture. In particular, adsorptive carbon capture is very promising for this application since, in comparison to amine process, adsorption process is economical for small-to-medium scale gas separations, the capital cost is relatively low and it does not require the evaporating, corrosive amine solvents. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.