Post-Combustion Carbon Capture

Commercial Applications

Power plants are the biggest source of CO₂ and any attempt to mitigate these emissions must address CO₂ capture from combustion systems. The challenge here is the large volume of the flue gas due to essentially atmospheric pressure and the presence of N2. The CO₂ levels are also relatively small which leads to very large equipment for the capture section.

In post-combustion capture, a chemical solvent is used to separate CO₂ from the flue gas stream produced by combustion of fuels in air. The typical application of an amine process would be for a pulverized coal (PC) or natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plant. The CO₂ concentration in the flue gas ranges from 3% for NG to about 15% for PC.

The Post-Combustion CO₂ Capture Unit can be viewed as a retrofit or add-on to the existing power plant. The flue gas from the boiler would have to still be cleaned up for NOx (SCR), particulate matter (ESP), and SOx (FGD) before it would be routed to the CO₂ Capture Unit and finally out through the stack.

Technology Information

The Post-Combustion CO₂ Capture process is by itself quite simple. It comprises an absorber where CO₂ is captured using a chemical solvent like an amine and a regenerator where the captured CO₂ is released from the solvent.

Project Information

KBR has undertaken several post-combustion CO₂ capture studies at our M.W. Kellogg London office. The first one was for the Norwegian Water Authority (NVE) in 2006. The CO₂ was captured from a 420 MW natural gas fired power plant in Karsto, Norway. In 2007, we worked for Statoil on the European CO₂ Test Centre at Mongstad, Norway. Also in the same year, we did an independent study of the same gas fired power plant at Karsto for Norsk Hydro.