Amine-based CO2 capture using hollow fiber membrane contactors in a coal-fired power plant: An absorption-desorption-combined plant-scale techno-economic analysis

Amine-based CO2 capture using hollow fiber membrane contactors is a promising technology in coal-fired power plants owing to its smaller volume, investment and energy penalty, but its performance in plant-scale applications and its advantage over the packed-column-based method are unclear. In this work, we develop a model of CO2 capture units using hollow fiber membrane contactors in both absorption and desorption processes, followed by a plant-scale techno-economic analysis in a 650 MW coal-fired power plant. By using hollow fiber membrane contactors instead of packed columns, the lowest CO2 avoidance cost drops by over a half to 36.7 USD/t CO2 whilst CO2 removal efficiency reaches 85 percent. Besides, the corresponding energy penalty drops by around thirty percent to 0.934 MJe/kg CO2. The volume of the hollow fiber membrane contactors in the absorption module is only approximately ten percent of packed-column absorbers, while in the desorption module, it reduces by only six percent compared to packed-column strippers. Improving the durability of polyvinylidene fluoride membranes is a potential method for further cost reduction. If the service life of membranes increases from one year to two or three years, CO2 avoidance cost can drop to 33.2 USD/t CO2 and 32.0 USD/t CO2.