• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2018

This study applied upgrades to the processes of a 10 MW wet amine $CO_2$ capture pilot plant and conducted performance evaluation. The 10 MW $CO_2$ Capture Pilot Plant is a facility that applies 1/50 of the combustion flue gas produced from a 500 MW coal-fired power plant, and is capable of capturing up to 200 tons of $CO_2$. This study aimed to quantitatively measure efficiency improvements of post-combustion $CO_2$ capture facilities resulting from process upgrades to propose reliable data for the first time in Korea. The key components of the process upgrades involve absorber intercooling, lean/rich amine exchanger efficiency improvements, reboiler steam TVR (Thermal Vapor Recompression), and lean amine MVR (Mechanical Vapor Recompression). The components were sequentially applied to test the energy reduction effect of each component. In addition, the performance evaluation was conducted with the absorber $CO_2$ removal efficiency maintained at the performance evaluation standard value proposed by the IEA-GHG ($CO_2$ removal rate: 90%). The absorbent used in the study was the highly efficient KoSol-5 that was developed by KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corporation). From the performance evaluation results, it was found that the steam consumption (regeneration energy) for the regeneration of the absorbent decreased by $0.38GJ/tonCO_2$ after applying the process upgrades: from $2.93GJ/ton\;CO_2$ to $2.55GJ/tonCO_2$. This study confirmed the excellent performance of the post-combustion wet $CO_2$ capture process developed by KEPCO Research Institute (KEPRI) within KEPCO, and the process upgrades validated in this study are expected to substantially reduce $CO_2$ capture costs when applied in demonstration $CO_2$ capture plants.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.168-180
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• 2022

The IMO has decided to proceed with the early introduction of EEDI Phase 3, a CO₂ emission regulation to prevent global warming. Measures to reduce CO₂ emissions for ships that can be applied immediately are required to achieve CO₂ reduction. We set six different CO₂ emission scenarios according to the type of ship and fuel, and designed a monoethanolamine-based CO₂ capture process for ships using a rate-based model of Aspen Plus v10. The simulation model using Aspen Plus was validated using pilot plant operation data. A ship inevitably tilts during operation, and the performance of a tilted column decreases as its height increases. When configuring the conventional CO₂ capture process, we considered that the required column heights were so high that performance degradation was unavoidable when the process was implemented on a ship. We applied a parallel column concept to lower the column height and to enable easy installation and operation on a ship. Simulations of the parallel column confirmed that the required column height was lowered to less than 3 TEU (7.8 m).

• Journal of Institute of Convergence Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.13-17
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• 2023

Direct air capture (DAC) refers to the process of permanently removing CO₂ from the atmosphere by capturing CO₂ that has been emitted into the atmosphere from the past to the present directly from the atmosphere. DAC is a process that captures CO₂ that exists at 400 ppm in the atmosphere, so it has the problem of requiring a significant amount of air and high energy compared to CO₂ capture from a point source such as exhaust gas from a coal-fired power plant. In this study, we aim to introduce the performance, characteristics, and processes of absorbents that can be applied to DAC, focusing on the DAC process using absorbents developed to date, and present challenges that must be overcome in future DAC technology development.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.13-18
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• 2019

The high energy penalty in amine-based post-combustion CO₂ capture process is hampering its industrial scale application. An advanced process is designed by intensive heat integration within the conventional process to reduce the stripper duty. The study presents the technical feasibility for stripper duty reduction by intensive heat integration in CO₂ capture process. A rigorous rate-based model has been used in Aspen Plus® to simulate conventional and advanced process for a 300 MW coal-based power plant. Several design and operational parameters like split ratio, stripper inter-heater location and flowrate were studied to find the optimum values. The results show that advanced configuration with heat integration can reduces the stripper heat by 14%.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.77-83
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• 2023

Energy consumption is increased by rapid industrialization. As a result, climate change is accelerating due to the increase in CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere. Therefore, a shift in the energy paradigm is required. Hydrogen is in the spotlight as a part of that. Currently 95% of hydrogen is fossil fuel-based reforming hydrogen which is accompanied by CO₂ emissions. This is called gray hydrogen, if the CO₂ is captured and emission of CO₂ is reduced, it can be converted into blue hydrogen. There are 3 technologies to capture CO₂: absorption, adsorption and membrane technology. In order to select CO₂ capture technology, the analysis of the exhaust gas should be carried out. The concentration of CO₂ in the flue gas from the hydrogen production process is higher than 20%if water is removed as well as the emission scale is classified as small and medium. So, the application of the membrane technology is more advantageous than the absorption. In addition, if LNG cold energy can be used for low temperature CO₂ capture system, the CO₂/N₂ selectivity of the membrane is higher than room temperature CO₂ capture and enabling an efficient CO₂ capture process. In this study, we will analyze the flue gas from hydrogen production process and discuss suitable CO₂ capture technology for it.

• Journal of Institute of Convergence Technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.19-23
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• 2022

Interest in hydrogen production to respond to climate change is increasing. Until now, hydrogen has been mainly produced through the SMR (Steam Methane Reforming) process using natural gas. A large amount of CO₂ is emitted in the hydrogen production process through SMR, and the gas flow including CO₂ generated in the SMR process has different characteristics for each emission source, so it is important to apply a suitable CO₂ capture process. In the case of PSA tail gas or synthesis gas, the applicability of an amine-based process has been confirmed or demonstrated close to a commercial level. However, in the case of the flue gas generated from the reformer, it is still difficult to apply the conventional amine-based process because the partial pressure of CO₂ is relatively low. Energy-saving innovative absorbents such as phase separation absorbents can be a solution to these difficulties.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.103-108
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• 2016

Carbon Capture and Storage technologies are recognized as key solution to meet greenhouse gas emission standards to avoid climate change. Although MEA (monoethanolamine) is an effective amine solvent in $CO_2$ capture process, the application is limited by high energy consumption, i.e., reduction of 10% of efficiency of coal-fired power plants. Therefore the development of new solvent and improvement of $CO_2$ capture process are positively necessary. In this study, improvement of $CO_2$ capture process was investigated and applied to Test Bed for reducing energy consumption. Previously reported technologies were examined and prospective methods were determined by simulation. Among the prospective methods, four applicable methods were selected for applying to 0.1 MW Test Bed, such as change of packing material in absorption column, installing the Intercooling System to absorption column, installing Rich Amine Heater and remodeling of Amines Heat Exchanger. After the improvement construction of 0.1 MW Test Bed, the effects of each suggested method were evaluated by experimental results.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.150-162
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• 2020

The proprietary post-combustion CO₂ solvent (KoSol) developed by the Korea Electric Power Research Institute (KEPRI) was applied at the Shanghai Shidongkou CO₂ Capture Pilot Plant (China Huaneng CERI, capacity: 120,000 ton CO₂/yr) of the China Huaneng Group (CHNG) for performance evaluation. The key results of the pilot test and data on the South Korean/Chinese electric power market were used to calculate the predicted cost of CO₂ avoided upon deployment of CO₂ capture technology in commercial-scale coal-fired power plants. Sensitivity analysis was performed for the key factors. It is estimated that, in the case of South Korea, the calculated cost of CO₂ avoided for an 960 MW ultra-supercritical (USC) coal-fired power plant is approximately 35~44 USD/tCO₂ (excluding CO₂ transportation and storage costs). Conversely, applying the same technology to a 1,000 MW USC coal-fired power plant in Shanghai, China, results in a slightly lower cost (32~42 USD/tCO₂). This study confirms the importance of international cooperation that takes into consideration the geographical locations and the performance of CO₂ capture technology for the involved countries in the process of advancing the economic efficiency of large-scale CCS technology aimed to reduce greenhouse gases

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2016

In order to reduce the anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases, CCS technology has emerged as the most promising and practical solution. Among CCS technology, post-combustion $CO_2$ capture is known as the most mature and effective process to remove $CO_2$ from power plant, but its energy consumption for chemical solvent regeneration still remains as an obstacle for commercialization. In this study, a process alternative integrating $CO_2$ capture with compression process is proposed which not only reduces the amount of thermal energy required for solvent regeneration but also produces $CO_2$ at an elevated pressure.

• Journal of Institute of Convergence Technology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 2021

It is widely accepted that the prevention of global warming requires significant reductions in greenhouse gases, particularly CO₂ emissions. Although fossil fuel-based power plants account for the majority of CO₂ emissions, it is urgent to reduce CO₂ emissions in industries that emit large amounts of CO₂ such as steel, petrochemical, and oil refining. This paper examines the current status of CO₂ emission in the domestic oil refining industry and CO₂ emission sources in each unit process in the oil refining industry. Focusing on the previously developed CO₂ capture process, cases and applicability of greenhouse gas reduction in FCC and hydrogen manufacturing processes, which are major processes constituting the oil refining industry, are reviewed.