A Technical Economic and Environmental Assessment of Amine-Based CO2 Capture Technology for Power Plant Greenhouse Gas Control

Capture and sequestration of C02 from fossil fuel power plants is gaining widespread interest as a potential method of controlling greenhouse gas emissions. Performance and cost models of an amine (MEA)-based C02 absorption system for post-combustion ±1ue gas applications have been developed, and integrated with an existing power plant n1odeling framework that includes multi-pollutant control teclmologies for other regulated emissions_ The integrated model has been applied to study the feasibility and cost of carbon capture and sequestration at both new and existing coal-burning power plants. The cost of carbon avoidance was shown to depend strongly on assumptions about the reference plant design, details of the C02 capture system design, interactions with other pollution control systems, and method of C02 storage_ The C02 avoidance cost for retrofit systems was found to be generally higher than for new plants, mainly because of the higher energy penalty resulting from less e±Iicient heat integration, as well as site-specific ditiiculties typically encountered in retrofit applications_ For all cases, a small reduction in C02 capture cost was afforded by the S02 emission trading credits generated by amine-based capture systems. Efforts are underway to model a broader suite of carbon capture and sequestration teclmologies for more comprehensive assessments in the context of multi-pollutant environmental management.