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

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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.