Comparing CO₂ capture technologies for power plants to identify the most efficient, cost-effective, and deployment-ready options.
By utilizing various oxygen generation methods (e.g., cryogenic distillation, membrane-based separation, etc.) and hydrogen production techniques (e.g., reforming, membrane-assisted separation, etc.) alongside a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), it is feasible to design diverse power plants with nearly zero CO2 emissions. Despite the growing interest in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)-based systems for clean and efficient power generation, limited studies have comprehensively compared different methane reforming techniques integrated with SOFCs from energy, economic, and CO2 emissions perspectives. This study presents a comprehensive technical, economic, and environmental assessment of six optimized MCFC-based power plant configurations, each integrated with different CO2 capture technologies: calcium looping (CaL), cryogenic CO2 capture (CCC), proton exchange membrane electrolyzer-based CO2 capture (PECC), oxygen membrane-based CO2 capture (OMCC), and vanadium chlorine-based CO2 capture (VCC). The integration of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) with Carbon Capture technologies has shown promising potential for sustainable energy production and emissions reduction.
Carbon capture and storage have been recognized as the most useful methods to reduce the CO2 emissions while using fossil fuels in power generation. This work
The program sponsors technology development ranging in scale from laboratory projects using simulated gases, to engineering-scale projects (up to 12 megawatt-electric [MWe]) testing technologies at operating power plants on actual flue gas, to front-end engineering and design (FEED) studies focusing on carbon capture systems integrated into specific operating power plants combined with long duration carbon storage or conversion of the CO2 into long lived products in preparation for future commercial demonstration. To facilitate wide-scale deployment of carbon capture systems, the Point Source Carbon Capture Program supports the execution of **FEED studies** to provide estimates of the capital and operating costs for installing commercial-scale, advanced post-combustion CO2 capture technologies that have achieved a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of at least 6 at new or existing power plants. In addition to supporting the testing of integrated CO2 capture systems at operating power plants, NETL partners with Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM) in Norway, the world’s largest open access test center for carbon capture technologies, to conduct engineering-scale test campaigns under actual flue gas conditions.
This work reviews different methods and updates of the current technologies to capture and separate CO2 generated in a thermal power plant.
This study investigates six feasible hybrid PCC configurations, integrating absorption, absorption, and membrane technologies, to identify the most viable
In the near and medium term, retrofitting the power sector with carbon capture technologies addresses emissions from the existing fossil-fuelled fleet of power plants. Of the remaining coal-fired power generation, 40% comes from plants fitted with carbon capture technologies. The IEA has outlined options to address the emissions of the existing coal-fired power plant fleet featuring three pillars: a) the retrofit of plants with carbon capture technologies, b) the repurposing of coal plants to provide flexibility, and c) the gradual phase-out of plants where carbon capture is not possible. Within the power sector, generators that utilise bioenergy with carbon capture have the potential to offset emissions from the use of (for example) gas-fired peaking power plants, which play a key role in supporting the cost-effective integration of renewables but are incompatible with a net-zero power system. The unique ability to achieve negative emissions through carbon capture technologies may also open up the possibility of allowing these plants to run at high capacity factors even in a power system with high renewable shares.
These terms are widely used in the industry, and we decided to adapt them for the main categories in our overview of carbon capture technologies in CaptureMap. However when we looked into the details we started running into issues linked to different definitions and criteria for categorising capture projects. Our take on it is that those capture technology categories were mostly defined at a time where power plants were the main targets for carbon capture, and therefore combustion was the main process to be considered. Next on our overview of carbon capture technologies we will talk about oxy-fuel, since it is, in our view, the category most related to post-combustion. > Pre-combustion carbon capture converts fuel into a mixture of hydrogen, CO2 and other gases, through gasification or reforming processes. As mentioned earlier, most of the capacity for carbon capture projects already in operations is concentrated within inherent process capture and pre-combustion. This indicates that the actual capture technology is likely to be inherent process capture or pre-combustion, increasing further the share of capture projects capacities within those categories.