Why is this research needed?

Post-combustion capture (PCC) is a crucial tool in achieving the UK net-zero targets. PCC using amines will be the most widely used flue gas capture technology and five out of the eight CCS projects, recently announced by the UK government as part of the Track-1 Cluster Sequencing process, will be amine-based PCC plants. PCC plants are also widely applicable globally, particularly for retrofit applications. Successful deployment will predominantly rely on the ability of the PCC plant to achieve high capture fractions and new PCC plants are designed for 95% capture immediately. Successfully capturing residual emissions, i.e. achieving 95%+, would obviously further promote wider use of CCS but this has to be done in a cost-effective manner. PCC offers the advantage of retrofitting existing infrastructure and the flexibility to be implemented in several applications. When fitted to energy from waste (EfW) plants, clean and potentially net-negative electricity and heat can be generated while further facilitate and encourage the reduction of quantity of waste dumped in landfills.

To this end, the proposed project aims to investigate the techno-economic feasibility of MEA based PCC fitted to EfW plants for ultra-high capture of up to 100% of the added fuel CO2. This study is of paramount importance because it will identify the marginal costs, process modifications needed, and energy penalties for net-zero operations. This is in line with the UK CCUS business models that incentivise high capture rates as long as the resulting decrease in abated power output is not more than 1% per every additional 1%-point increase in CO2 capture fraction. The findings of the study will provide useful information to operators and policy makers regarding the amount of decarbonised power generated at high capture fractions and associated costs. Little is known in the UK scientific and industrial community regarding the techno-economic feasibility of net-zero industrial operations and the goal of the project is to bridge this knowledge gap by applying rigorous modelling and economic evaluations aiming at optimising the performance of ultra-high PCC.

What is this research investigating?

The key objectives can be summarised as follows:

– To undertake techno-economic assessments of post-combustion capture (PCC) fitted to energy from waste (EfW) plants for capture fractions varying from 95% up to 100% of the added fuel CO2.
– To carry out heat integration and identify CAPEX vs OPEX trade-offs.
– To evaluate the performance of the different cases with a broad range of key performance indicators (KPIs) such as the cost of CO2 captured and avoided, and marginal cost for net-zero using as benchmark the 95% case. To compare the marginal cost with current and projected CDR costs such as direct air capture.
– To quantify the benefits that increased capture efficiency above 95% can bring to the project’s internal rate of return (IRR) considering impacts to facility efficiency vs minimising UK ETS exposure from implementing ultra-high capture.
– To estimate the required CAPEX and OPEX payments for different strike prices from the Industrial Carbon Capture (ICC) Contract Counterparty based on the Waste ICC business model.
– To carry out a sensitivity analysis of the main techno-economic design parameters and identify feasible operating windows.

What does the research hope to achieve?

The research outcomes of the project will strengthen the reputation of UK on CCUS research and provide data of high value for future investigations in this area. Furthermore, the findings of the project will have a great potential to spur research collaboration with academics policy makers and industrialists. Impact and beneficiaries of the project include:

a) Information and enhancements for net-zero operation in aspects of the first UK PCC projects that are deployed this decade – through workshops and reporting and through informal engagement. The project will help to provide key underpinning evidence for regulation and policy.
b) Update UK policy on CCUS – through workshops, reports, and direct engagement. The research work will address topics of active interest for policy such as the economic performance of ultra-high CO2 capture as well as associated energy penalties.
c) Improved knowledge-transfer within and between the industrial and academic PCC communities based on access to real industrial documents (open-access FEED studies), workshops and networking.
d) Industry planning, or contemplating, the use of amine post-combustion capture for decarbonisation; the project will provide meaningful knowledge on the economics of PCC technology and strategies to benefit from the existing CCUS business models.

Finally, the research outcomes will also serve as basis for larger funding opportunities such as the ‘EPSRC New Investigator Award’ for SM.