CO2 capture from CHP plants with hot potassium carbonate: pilot plant experimental investigation and process simulation

The main cause of global warming at present is the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and the most effective way to counter it is to capture it. Over time, several processes have been developed for capturing CO2, and one of the most studied and widely used in the chemical industry is based on amines as the adsorbing agent. Despite the high capture efficiency of the amine process one must also consider the energy efficiency of the process, which is lower than other capture processes. The process with hot potassium carbonate (HPC) solves some of the problems of the process with amines in both energy and environmental terms. Currently this process is under continuous study to improve its efficiency. The Italian company Giammarco-Vetrocoke, which has been working on CO2 removal from industrial gases using HPC solvent for more than seventy years, is expanding its studies to carbon dioxide removal from flue gases. The company conducts studies related to process efficiency by testing different operating conditions in a dedicated pilot plant where through the HPC solution the CO2 is absorbed from adjusted mixture into the absorption columns. The carbon dioxide-rich solution is then regenerated in a stripping column for reutilization. This thesis focuses on the study of flue gas capture from combined heat and power plants (CHP) that burn biomass to produce energy, particularly the analysis of operational variables that impact capture efficiency. This study is conducted through tests in the pilot plant and supported by simulations using Aspen Plus® software.