Prospects of the Novel CSAR Concept for Fully Electric or Flexible Electric–Thermal Hybrid CO₂ Capture from CHP Plants

Momentum is gathering behind the goal of achieving net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050 in Europe and around the world. Negative emissions via biomass or waste combustion with CO2 capture can make net zero considerably easier to achieve. This study investigates CO2 capture from combined heat and power (CHP) plants that often use bio-based fuels. However, most CO2 capture processes require large amounts of heat, potentially consuming most of the CHP plant’s primary product. The novel continuous swing adsorption reactor (CSAR) concept provides a promising solution by capturing CO2 using electrically driven heat and vacuum pumps. Techno-economic assessments conducted in this work illustrate that CSAR clearly outperforms an MEA benchmark when the CHP plant sells heat throughout the year (MEA would need a heat price below 10 €/MWh at an electricity price of 60 €/MWh to compete). When large amounts of free heat are available in summer months, MEA becomes more attractive, but a flexible CSAR configuration utilizing free heat during summer maintains a clear advantage for CSAR (MEA needs a heat price below 15 €/MWh at an electricity price of 60 €/MWh). Stronger competition arises from advanced solvents such as PZ/AMP that can match CSAR at almost double the heat price of MEA. Still, CSAR will remain attractive in most cases, especially for retrofits where considerable capital expenditures would be required to provide existing heat customers with an alternative heat supply if solvent technologies are used. Thus, CSAR appears to be a promising technology for achieving negative emissions from CHP plants.目前，欧洲乃至全球范围内，到2050年实现二氧化碳净零排放的目标正获得越来越多的共识与支持。通过生物质或废物燃烧结合二氧化碳捕集实现负排放，可大幅降低达成净零排放目标的难度。本研究针对常使用生物质基燃料的热电联产（combined heat and power, CHP）厂的二氧化碳捕集场景展开调研。然而，绝大多数二氧化碳捕集工艺需要消耗大量热能，可能会占用热电联产厂的主要供热产出。新型连续变压吸附反应器（continuous swing adsorption reactor, CSAR）技术方案通过电驱动加热与真空泵实现二氧化碳捕集，为该问题提供了颇具前景的解决路径。本研究开展的技术经济评估结果表明，若热电联产厂全年对外供热，CSAR的性能显著优于单乙醇胺（MEA）基准工艺（在电价为60 €/MWh的场景下，MEA需将热价降至10 €/MWh以下方可具备竞争力）。若夏季可获取大量免费热能，MEA工艺的竞争力会有所提升，但在夏季利用免费热能的柔性化CSAR配置方案仍能保持显著优势（在电价为60 €/MWh的场景下，MEA需将热价降至15 €/MWh以下方可具备竞争力）。PZ/AMP等先进溶剂则带来了更强的竞争，这类溶剂可在热价接近MEA工艺两倍的场景下与CSAR比肩。但在多数场景下，CSAR仍具备竞争力，尤其适用于改造项目——若采用溶剂捕集工艺，需投入大量资本开支为现有热用户提供替代供热方案。综上，CSAR技术有望成为实现热电联产厂二氧化碳负排放的可行方案。