Economical Performance Study for NGCC system with CO2 removal plant

Carbon dioxide has been identified as a major greenhouse gas responsible for a large part of the enhancement of global warming. CO₂ capture and storage (CCS) from power plants is drawing increasing interest as a potential method for the control of greenhouse gas emissions. Technically, the capture of CO₂ from the flue gas of power plants, using a monoethanolamine (MEA) absorption process is a viable shortcut to medium term strategy for the mitigation of the atmospheric CO₂ emissions from large point sources. An economical performance study for a CO₂ removal plant from flue gas of a NGCC syngas-fired power plant was performed, based on absorption/regeneration process with MEA solutions, using ASPEN Plus. The conclusion is that the efficiency drop due to CO₂ removal plant is approximately 12.9%; and the cost of CO₂ captured and the cost of CO₂ avoided are respectively 13 euros/tCO₂ and 18 euros/tCO₂. In order to popularize large-scale CCS to power plants, technology improvement is greatly needed.