Post-combustion capture by chemical absorption using MEA solvent remains theonly commercial technology for large scale CO2 capture for coal-fired powerplants. This paper presents a study of the dynamic responses of a post-combustion CO2 capture plant by modelling and simulation. Such a plant consistsmainly of the absorber (where CO2 is chemically absorbed) and the regenerator(where the chemical solvent is regenerated). Model development and validationare described followed by dynamic analysis of the absorber and regeneratorcolumns linked together with recycle. The gPROMS (Process Systems EnterpriseLtd.) advanced process modelling environment has been used to implement theproposed work. The study gives insights into the operation of the absorber-regenerator combination with possible disturbances arising from integratedoperation with a power generation plant. It is shown that the performance of theabsorber is more sensitive to the molar L/G ratio than the actual flow rates ofthe liquid solvent and flue gas. In addition, the importance of appropriatewater balance in the absorber column is shown. A step change of the reboilerduty indicates a slow response. A case involving the combination of twofundamental CO2 capture technologies (the partial oxyfuel mode in the furnaceand the post-combustion solvent scrubbing) is studied. The flue gas compositionwas altered to mimic that observed with the combination. There was an initialsharp decrease in CO2 absorption level which may not be observed in steady-statesimulations. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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