Industrial Post-Combustion Carbon Capture: Strategies for Emission Control in Power Plants and Manufacturing Sectors

¹ Department of Mechatronics and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, NSBM Green University, Homagama, Sri Lanka
² Department of Civil and Environmental Technology, Faculty of Technology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Homagama, Sri Lanka

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

Among the biggest contributors to worldwide CO₂ emissions are industrial sectors like cement, steel, aluminum, and coal- and gas-fired power generation. A promising technique for reducing emissions from these industries is post-combustion carbon capture (PCC), which uses solvents based on amines and can be easily integrated into existing infrastructure. This study develops and simulates PCC process models in Aspen Plus for five industrial case studies, aiming to minimize the energy requirements for regeneration. To assess absorber–stripper configurations, operational circumstances, and flue gas compositions were taken into consideration. Monoethanolamine (MEA) was used as the solvent, and 85% of CO₂ was captured using the ELECNRTL property technique. Regeneration energy requirements for gas-fired, coal-fired, cement, steel, and aluminum sectors are 3680, 3530, 3200, 3400, and 3020 kJ/kg, respectively, according to the results, which show that reboiler duty is highly dependent on flue gas flow rate and CO₂ concentration. The results emphasize the necessity of optimal solvent flow and heat integration methodologies by highlighting the trade-off between CO₂ removal efficiency and energy demand. This work contributes to the creation of cost-effective CCS deployment routes that are essential for fulfilling climate targets and lowering industrial carbon footprints by measuring industry-specific energy penalties.