Demonstration of negative CO2 emissions with BECCS using process intensification

The main aim of the project is to demonstrate negative CO2 emissions offered by BECCS using a next generation Process Intensified (PI) CO2 capture (CC) plant. Performance of 1 TPD CO2 capture capacity Rotating Packed Bed (RPB) capture plant with flue gas generated by 240kWth biomass boiler (GB) is investigated at the Translational Energy Research Centre (TERC), the University of Sheffield. Performance of a proprietary solvent, APBS-CDRMax®, from Carbon Clean is compared with 35% MEA for biomass generated flue gases. Comprehensive analyses are performed on both the GB and the RPB capture plant via the following analytical methods: • ICP-OES – entrained metal aerosol emissions monitored at the exit of GB and inlet of RPB • Dekati ELPI – for particulate analysis on both the exit of the GB and at inlet of the RPB. The ELPI instrument can measure size distribution and concentration in the size range of 6 nm – 10 μm at 10 Hz sampling rate • Gasmet DX4000 FTIR – gaseous emissions (including standard flue gas analysis, plus a range of other species, degradation products) monitored at the exit of GB and inlet of RPB. CO2 concentration in the inlet and outlet flue gas are measured by FTIR and a stack analyser, respectively for capture efficiency. • Mettler Toledo Auto-titrator used for solvent concentration and CO2 loadings monitoring (MEA only) • Karl Fischer titration used for concentration monitoring of APBS-CDRMax® Particulate samples were collected by ELPI for post by ICP for metallic content. Solvent samples were collected during the tests for post analysis for degradation behaviour and accumulation of species from biomass flue gas into the solvent. MEA samples were analysed by ICP and Ion chromatography while selected APBS-CDRMax® samples were sent to Carbon Clean for further assessment. However, in this paper, only capture efficiency, reboiler duty and CO2 loadings data are presented for MEA. Moreover, comparison of capture efficiency and reboiler duty (normalised) for MEA and APBS-CDRMax® at different L/G ratios is presented.