From ammonium bicarbonate fertilizer production process to power plant CO sub(2) capture

Ammonia-based CO sub(2) capture technology has attracted wide research interest. Substantial work has been reported that includes theoretical evaluation, laboratory tests, pilot plant tests and economic analysis. Alstom and PowerSpan have conducted a few MW level demonstration tests. However, three...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of greenhouse gas control 2012-09, Vol.10, p.56-63
Main Authors: Zhuang, Quan, Clements, Bruce, Li, Ying
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorption
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Ammonia-based CO sub(2) capture technology has attracted wide research interest. Substantial work has been reported that includes theoretical evaluation, laboratory tests, pilot plant tests and economic analysis. Alstom and PowerSpan have conducted a few MW level demonstration tests. However, three inherent hurdles with this potential CO sub(2) capture technology have not been fully solved yet: ammonium bicarbonate solid formation in the absorption tower which may plug the tower packing, high ammonia vapor pressure that results in ammonia slip into the cleaned flue gas, and low CO sub(2) absorption rate resulting in large absorption equipment. Industrial ammonium bicarbonate fertilizer production processes are proven technology and have been optimized both technologically and economically for decades. This technology is also based on the chemistry and physics of the NH sub(3)-CO sub(2)-H sub(2)O system. In the ammonia synthesis plant, CO sub(2) in shifted gas from the syngas obtained by gasification of coal is absorbed into partly carbonated aqueous ammonia in a liquid bubbling column to produce ammonium bicarbonate solid as fertilizer. Using this process, ammonium bicarbonate has been sustainably produced with low ammonia slip into the shifted gas after the CO sub(2) was captured. In this report, the ammonium bicarbonate fertilizer production process is described and analyzed. The advantageous aspects of the fertilizer production technology are compared with the current widely studied ammonia-based CO sub(2) capture technology for power plant applications. Insights into the modifications required for the flue gas CO sub(2) capture application are discussed. New designs of ammonia-based CO sub(2) capture processes are presented.
ISSN:1750-5836
DOI:10.1016/j.ijggc.2012.05.019