Greenhouse gas emission mitigation through amine based carbon dioxide capture in coal fired electricity generation plants | |
| Author | Bhattacharjee, Tanuja |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.ET-08-10 |
| Subject(s) | Greenhouse gas mitigation Electric power-plants--Environmental aspects |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the req uirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Energy |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. ET-08-10 |
| Abstract | In many developing countries, electricity sector is rapidly expanding and needs a large amount of fossil fuel to cope with the demand. Due to availability as indigenous resource and cost competitiveness, importance of coal is increasing as a fuel for power generation. In this study, trend of coal fired power generation and capacity addition was considered for four countries: India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Vietnam, to estimate the total CO₂ emission from this sector. The current emission from this sector is around 0.5 MtC0₂/yr and as expected to double by 2020 for these countries due to the expansion of installed capacity. This can be a severe threat to GHG emission mitigation concerns and to address the global warming issues. In the route of CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage), MEA (monoethanolamine) technology has the potential to be integrated with coal fired power plants to reduce the CO₂ emission. According to the power generation plan of these countries, MEA technology would be compatible with almost half of the total coal fired power generation capacity by 2020. In this study, a comparative cost and performance is presented using IECM-cs model, among the potential candidates to be integrated with MEA technology. It has been found that by 2020, 275-300 MtC0₂/yr is possible to mitigate at a capture cost around $37-42/tC0₂ which is highly competitive and up to 600 MtC0₂/yr is possible to mitigate at $46-50/tC0₂. In the next part of the study, process and technology were reviewed to identify the drawbacks of the MEA system. As a consequence of the power penalty, the overall emission reduction level is identified for possible scenarios to implement this technology. Again, performance improvement opportunities are discussed for MEA technology using case studies for two power plants in Bangladesh and Thailand. Higher energy penalty is found as a barrier to implement MEA technology from the overall emission reduction point of view. Ultimate emission benefit is more dependent on the routes towards CCS system rather than the technology itself. In contrast to the apparent capacity of MEA technology to capture 90% CO₂ from flue gas, the ultimate emission benefit can be reduced to the level of 45%-80% as a consequence of power penalty. Cost competitive level of CO₂ capture is found to be relative with the base plant condition. Integration of MEA system is commonly referred to operate at 90% capture level. In this study, the effective level of CO₂ capture has been identified at 75% for Thailand and 80% for Bangladesh. Operation at the effective level can reduce cost of electricity by around 10% while can increase the power output by 20% compared to operation at 90% CO₂ capture. Partial feeding of flue gas was found to be highly effective for a lower capture target and can reduce CO₂ avoidance cost by 10%. Hence, it is more justified to fix CO₂ capture target at the cost effective level according to the specific features of the base plant. Rather than maximizing the apparent volume of CO₂ capture, this would help to reduce the adverse impact in power generation and overall emission |
| Year | 2008 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. ET-08-10 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Energy Technology (ET) |
| Chairperson(s) | Kumar, Sivanappan;Dutta, Animesh |
| Examination Committee(s) | Nadarajah, Mithulananthan;Mohanty, Brahmanand |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | NORAD |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2008 |