Technical and Energy Performance of an Advanced, Aqueous Ammonia-Based CO₂ Capture Technology for a 500 MW Coal-Fired Power Station

Using a rate-based model, we assessed the technical feasibility and energy performance of an advanced aqueous-ammonia-based postcombustion capture process integrated with a coal-fired power station. The capture process consists of three identical process trains in parallel, each containing a CO₂ capture unit, an NH₃ recycling unit, a water separation unit, and a CO₂ compressor. A sensitivity study of important parameters, such as NH₃ concentration, lean CO₂ loading, and stripper pressure, was performed to minimize the energy consumption involved in the CO₂ capture process. Process modifications of the rich-split process and the interheating process were investigated to further reduce the solvent regeneration energy. The integrated capture system was then evaluated in terms of the mass balance and the energy consumption of each unit. The results show that our advanced ammonia process is technically feasible and energy-competitive, with a low net power-plant efficiency penalty of 7.7%