Process Modelling, Optimization, Control and Scheduling of Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage Processes

加拿大拥有得天独厚的自然资源，包括大量的化石燃料储量(煤炭、油砂、石油和天然气)，我们已将这些资源用于各种用途，包括家庭、工业和电力应用。我们的人均使用量一直很高，部分原因是我们是一个人口相对较少的北方大国。基本上，燃烧化石燃料的一个副作用是产生温室气体，其中最丰富的是二氧化碳(CO2)。虽然人们现在已经感受到了所谓的“全球变暖”的影响，但二氧化碳排放量仍在继续增加，这在一定程度上是为了推动经济扩张，而现有排放国的排放量几乎或根本没有减少。联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会在2013年9月发布的最新报告中指出，“温室气体的持续排放将导致气候系统的所有组成部分进一步变暖和变化。限制气候变化将需要大幅和持续地减少温室气体排放。虽然预计二氧化碳排放量在中期内将继续增加，但研究和政策讨论必须继续下去，以便在我们准备好实施最佳解决方案时能够得到这些解决方案。解决方案包括：保护和提高工厂效率以减少需求，将燃料(从煤炭转换为天然气、生物质、太阳能、风能和核能)以减少二氧化碳排放，以及所谓的CCS(碳、捕获和储存)。虽然所有方法都是有用的，但有效处理这一问题需要使用所有方法的综合方法。CCS引起了人们的极大关注，因为它是唯一可以与化石燃料工厂结合使用的方法，可以显著减少温室气体的排放。成本巨大，方法和技术复杂，尚未在工厂规模上进行全面论证。研究工作继续集中在CCS的许多方面，包括：·工艺设计(溶剂吸收、富氧燃料燃烧、吸附、膜)·工艺改进(寻找更好的溶剂和/或吸附剂，优化流程图)·更好地了解储存过程。正是在这种背景下，我的研究将继续专注于二氧化碳的缓解和捕获，主要来自大型排放者，如燃煤发电站、氢气厂(油砂行业所需)、水泥厂、炼油厂以及汽车行业。在过去的十年里，我们团队开发了各种“稳态”模拟和设计模型，用于从大型排放器中捕获二氧化碳。我们现在已经开始调查“动态”问题--从CCS工厂的过程控制到发电厂的短期调度，再到车队的长期规划。我希望在这里探讨的正是这些动态问题。特别是，我希望调查与化石燃料发电站集成的二氧化碳捕获过程的可操作性。我们的初步研究表明，在发电站车队中增加CCS系统将影响整个发电站的最佳运行。如果我们要设计和运行发电和碳捕获的集成系统，就需要了解发电站的运行和CCS过程是如何相互作用的。因此，我的研究方案将集中在两个阶段：a.碳捕获过程的动态模拟和控制，以及b.具有碳捕获过程的发电站的调度。

Canada is blessed with natural resources including significant fossil fuel deposits (coal, oil sands, oil and natural gas) that we have taken advantage of for a variety of uses including domestic, industrial and electric utility applications. Our per capita usage has been high, in part, because we are a large northern country with a relatively low population. One side effect of, essentially, burning fossil fuels is the production of greenhouse gases, the most abundant of which is carbon dioxide (CO2). While the effects of so-called ‘Global Warming’ are now being felt, CO2 emissions continue to increase, in part to fuel economic expansion, while little or no reduction in emissions from existing emitters has occurred. In their most recent report, released in September 2013, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that “Continued emissions of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and changes in all components of the climate system. Limiting climate change will require substantial and sustained reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.” While it is expected that CO2 emissions will continue to increase in the medium term, research and policy discussions must continue such that the best solutions are available when we are ready to implement them. Solutions include: conservation and increased plant efficiencies to reduce demand, switching fuels (from coal to natural gas, biomass, solar, wind and nuclear) to reduce CO2 emissions and so-called CCS (carbon, capture and storage). While all approaches are useful, a holistic approach using all methods will be necessary to effectively deal with the problem. CCS has attracted significant attention because it is the only method that can be used in conjunction with fossil fuel plants to significantly reduce the emissions of GHG. The costs are significant, the methods and technology complex and they have yet to be demonstrated at a full plant scale. Research efforts continue to focus on many aspects of CCS including: • process design (solvent absorption, oxy-fuel combustion, adsorption, membranes) • process improvement (search for better solvents and or adsorbents, optimizing flowsheets) • understanding the storage process better. It is with this background that my research will continue to focus on CO2 mitigation and capture, primarily from large emitters such as coal fired electric generating stations, hydrogen plants (needed for the oil sands industry), cement plants, oil refineries, as well as the automotive sector. In the past decade our group has developed a variety of 'steady state' simulation and design models for CO2 capture from large emitters. We have now begun to investigate 'dynamic' issues - from process control of CCS plants to short-term scheduling of power plants to the long-term planning of fleets. It is these dynamic issues that I wish to pursue here. In particular, I wish to investigate the operability of CO2 capture processes integrated with fossil fuel generating stations. Our preliminary research indicates that the addition of CCS systems to a fleet of generating stations will affect the optimal operation of the entire fleet. One needs to understand how the operation of the electric power generating stations and CCS processes interact if we are to design and operate integrated systems for power generation and carbon capture. My research proposal will, therefore, focus on two phases: A. Dynamic Simulation and Control of Carbon Capture Processes and, B. Scheduling of Generating Stations with Carbon Capture Processes.