A National Post Combustion Capture (NPCC) Program is being progressed in Australia, with a demonstration sub-program ($64 M) led by industry, and a research sub-program ($20 M) led by CSIRO. The main activity of the demonstration component is to operate a PCC plant at a semi-commercial scale of 50,000 tpy at a host power station site, to demonstrate capture, and provide CO_2 for sequestration projects of others. The research component provides a focus for applied research, laboratory and pilot testing of sorbents and technologies, for Australian specific PCC requirements. Testing will include use of a 1000 tpy transportable pilot plant operating on slip streams from operating power plants. For PCC to be implemented in Australia now, plants will require retrofit of deNOx and deSOx equipment, which will reduce the advantages of PCC. This situation requires that new sorbents and new process designs be developed to minimise the effect of NOx and SOx. Without cost effective PCC, in a carbon constrained future, many of the current 40 GW of pf plant could become stranded assets. Many Australian plants are located in areas of high solar insolation, and these could utilise some lower grade heat. PCC is particularly suitable for using solar thermal energy, and new sorbents with lower regeneration temperature (as distinct from regeneration energy) could further improve the cost benefits of this integration. PCC can also provide a means for offsetting peak load, and can therefore assist in the integration of intermittent renewables into the grid.
展开▼
