Versatile Adsorption Processes for the Capture of Carbon Dioxide from Industrial Sources - FlexICCS

2008年气候变化法案设定了到2050年减少80%二氧化碳排放的具有法律约束力的目标。这一目标将要求大中型排放源几乎完全脱碳。虽然电力部门可以选择转向低碳系统（可再生能源和核能），但对于占全球排放量45%的工业排放，解决方案必须基于开发更高效的工艺和可行的碳捕获和储存（CCS）基础设施。政府还认识到，“由于生产所需的化学反应，有些工业过程将继续排放二氧化碳”，即CCS是解决这些排放的唯一选择。为了保持英国工业的竞争力并满足这些严格的要求，需要新的工艺来降低碳捕获的成本，通常超过CCS总成本的60%。研究挑战-工业碳捕获的关键挑战在于工业应用中遇到的各种条件（温度，压力，成分）和工艺规模。对于工业来源的碳捕获，实现减排的驱动因素和机制将与发电行业的驱动因素和机制大不相同。例如，由于消费者的压力，食品和饮料行业正在努力减少我们购买的产品的碳足迹，这一点很重要。实际挑战和研发的真实的长期机会是中小规模来源的解决方案。在开发这个项目的过程中，我们与几位工业界的同事合作，确定了一个广泛的案例研究进行调查。作为低CO2浓度系统的一个例子，我们已经确定了一个中等规模的行业：Redcar的乐天化学品，主要用于食品和饮料包装的PET产品制造商。该工厂拥有燃气发电机，每台发电机产生3500 kg/hr的二氧化碳，约占7%。发电机的排放量相当于500兆瓦燃气发电厂的1/50。所面临的挑战是通过减少循环时间和增加吸附剂的工作能力来提高碳捕获装置的效率。为了应对这一挑战，我们将开发新型的胺支撑多孔碳容纳在转轮吸附器。为了使吸附剂的可用体积最大化，我们将考虑直接电加热，从而消除对传热表面的需求，并在现场无法获得蒸汽的情况下增加灵活性。例如，我们将与空气产品公司合作处理高浓度的二氧化碳。二氧化碳捕获过程将围绕用于产生氢气的蒸汽甲烷重整器进行设计。来自该系统的尾气含有45%v/v CO2。基础案例将用于装在运输集装箱中的发电机。通过开发相应的碳捕获模块，这可以导致可以从天然气或页岩气生产清洁H2的系统，为工业应用提供灵活的低碳H2源或燃料。将开发基于快速循环吸附的工艺，通过为一系列应用提供占地面积小的灵活系统来降低成本，并可导致模块化单元的大规模生产。我们将实施一项雄心勃勃的工作计划，解决工业源碳捕获的材料和工艺开发问题。

The 2008 Climate Change Act sets a legally binding target of 80% CO2 emissions reductions by 2050. This target will require nearly complete decarbonisation of large and medium scale emitters. While the power sector has the option of shifting to low carbon systems (renewables and nuclear), for industrial emissions, which will account for 45% of global emissions, the solution has to be based on developing more efficient processes and a viable carbon capture and storage (CCS) infrastructure. The government recognises also that "there are some industrial processes which, by virtue of the chemical reactions required for production, will continue to emit CO2", ie CCS is the only option to tackle these emissions. In order for the UK industry to maintain its competitiveness and meet these stringent requirements new processes are needed which reduce the cost of carbon capture, typically more than 60% of the overall cost of CCS. Research challenge - The key challenges in carbon capture from industry lie in the wide range of conditions (temperature, pressure, composition) and scale of the processes encountered in industrial applications. For carbon capture from industrial sources the drivers and mechanisms to achieve emissions reductions will be very different from those of the power generation industry. It is important to consider that for example the food and drinks industry is striving to reduce the carbon footprint of the products we purchase due to pressures from consumers.The practical challenge and the real long term opportunity for R&D are solutions for medium to small scale sources. In developing this project we have collaborated with several industrial colleagues to identify a broad range case studies to be investigated. As an example of low CO2 concentration systems we have identified a medium sized industry: Lotte Chemicals in Redcar, manufacturer of PET products primarily for the packaging of food and drinks. The plant has gas fired generators that produce 3500 kg/hr of CO2 each at approximately 7%. The emissions from the generators are equivalent to 1/50th of a 500 MW gas fired power plant. The challenge is to intensify the efficiency of the carbon capture units by reducing cycle times and increasing the working capacity of the adsorbents. To tackle this challenge we will develop novel amine supporting porous carbons housed in a rotary wheel adsorber. To maximise the volume available for the adsorbent we will consider direct electrical heating, thus eliminating the need for heat transfer surfaces and introducing added flexibility in case steam is not available on site.As an example of high CO2 concentrations we will collaborate with Air Products. The CO2 capture process will be designed around the steam methane reformer used to generate hydrogen. The tail gas from this system contains 45% v/v CO2. The base case will be for a generator housed in a shipping container. By developing a corresponding carbon capture module this can lead to a system that can produce clean H2 from natural gas or shale gas, providing a flexible low carbon source of H2 or fuel for industrial applications. Rapid cycle adsorption based processes will be developed to drive down costs by arriving flexible systems with small footprints for a range of applications and that can lead to mass-production of modular units. We will carry out an ambitious programme of work that will address both materials and process development for carbon capture from industrial sources.