Since the time of the industrial revolution, the atmospheric CO(2) concentration has risen by nearly 35 % to its current level of 383 ppm. The increased carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has been suggested to be a leading contributor to global climate change. To slow the increase, reductions in anthropogenic CO(2) emissions are necessary. Large emission point sources, such as fossil-fuel-based power generation facilities, are the first targets for these reductions. A benchmark, mature technology for the separation of dilute CO(2) from gas streams is via absorption with aqueous amines. However, the use of solid adsorbents is now being widely considered as an alternative, potentially less-energy-intensive separation technology. This Review describes the CO(2) adsorption behavior of several different classes of solid carbon dioxide adsorbents, including zeolites, activated carbons, calcium oxides, hydrotalcites, organic-inorganic hybrids, and metal-organic frameworks. These adsorbents are evaluated in terms of their equilibrium CO(2) capacities as well as other important parameters such as adsorption-desorption kinetics, operating windows, stability, and regenerability. The scope of currently available CO(2) adsorbents and their critical properties that will ultimately affect their incorporation into large-scale separation processes is presented.

Adsorbent Materials for Carbon Dioxide Capture from Large Anthropogenic Point Sources

http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/78793/1/Progress%20in%20chemical-looping%20combustion%20and%20ref....2012.pdf

Progress in chemical-looping combustion and reforming technologies

New heat conversion technologies need to be developed and improved to take advantage of the necessary increase in the supply of renewable energy. The Organic Rankine Cycle is well suited for these applications, mainly because of its ability to recover low-grade heat and the possibility to be implemented in decentralized lower-capacity power plants. In this paper, an overview of the different ORC applications is presented. A market review is proposed including cost figures for several commercial ORC modules and manufacturers. An in-depth analysis of the technical challenges related to the technology, such as working fluid selection and expansion machine issues is then reported. Technological constraints and optimization methods are extensively described and discussed. Finally, the current trends in research and development for the next generation of Organic Rankine Cycles are presented.

Techno-economic survey of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) systems

An organic Rankine cycle (ORC) machine is similar to a conventional steam cycle energy conversion system, but uses an organic fluid such as refrigerants and hydrocarbons instead of water. In recent years, research was intensified on this device as it is being progressively adopted as premier technology to convert low-temperature heat resources into power. Available heat resources are: solar energy, geothermal energy, biomass products, surface seawater, and waste heat from various thermal processes. This paper presents existing applications and analyzes their maturity. Binary geothermal and binary biomass CHP are already mature. Provided the interest to recover waste heat rejected by thermal devices and industrial processes continue to grow, and favorable legislative conditions are adopted, waste heat recovery organic Rankine cycle systems in the near future will experience a rapid growth. Solar modular power plants are being intensely investigated at smaller scale for cogeneration applications in buildings but larger plants are also expected in tropical or Sahel regions with constant and low solar radiation intensity. OTEC power plants operating mainly on offshore installations at very low temperature have been advertised as total resource systems and interest on this technology is growing in large isolated islands.

Low­grade heat conversion into power using organic Rankine cycles - A review of various applications

Oxy-fuel combustion of solid fuels

Combined Cycle for Hybrid Vehicles

The invention concerns a method and a system for extracting and storing carbon dioxide of fumes derived from combustion of hydrocarbons in an apparatus designed in particular to produce mechanical energy. The system comprises: extracting means, in particular exchangers (11, 25) and a dehydrator (56), for extracting water from said fumes in liquid form at a pressure substantially equal to atmospheric pressure; cooling means, in particular an integrated cascaded refrigerating apparatus (18, 22, 25, 26, 28, 32, 33, 34, 39, 40), for cooling said fumes at a pressure substantially equal to atmospheric pressure and at a temperature such that the carbon dioxide passes directly from vapour state to solid state, through an anti-sublimation process; storage means, in particular a fixed (49) and/or removable (51) reservoir and suction means, in particular a pneumatic pump for storing carbon dioxide in liquid form after defrosting.

Method and system for extracting carbon dioxide by anti-sublimation for storage thereof

In this paper we examine the feasibility and costs of recovering CO2 from the flue gases for a conventional pulverized coal-fired power boiler using the concept of frosting and defrosting CO2 at atmospheric pressure in a low-temperature evaporator. The concept of frosting and defrosting CO2 investigated is based on a 4-stage integrated cascade enabling the distillation of a refrigerant blend of 4 to 6 components; to evaporate the low temperature refrigerant fraction of the blend at temperatures varying between -90 down to -137°C (if necessary). The current design requires a swing process in the low temperature evaporators. The swing process allows to recover the sublimation and the melting CO2 energy for temperatures varying between -120 and -56°C during the defrosting process. In the first section, we describe how the process operates, the type of refrigerant blend used and how CO2 is recovered in liquid phase at -56°C and 560 kPa. In the second section, we describe the energy consumption and the energy efficiency of the total CO2 capture process for the above-mentioned case study for a 90% CO2 removal. In the third section, the CO2 frosting process is benchmarked with the conventional MEA-solvent based capture technologies.

CO2 capture by anti-sublimation Thermo-economic process evaluation

Six widely differing, novel capture processes, currently under development in Europe are described. These processes cover the range of postcombustion, precombustion and denitrogenation and show favourable possibilities for integration with power plants. They can be regarded as potential break-throughs in technical performance and/or costs.

/pdf/novel-capture-processes-k2m65cebyp.pdf

Novel capture processes

The present invention pertains to a method and a system for extracting carbon dioxide and/or sulfur dioxide from methane or fumes resulting from hydrocarbon combustion. The system according to the present invention comprises a refrigerating device with integrated cascade which cools the methane or the fumes under a pressure that ensures circulation of the methane or the fumes and at a temperature such that the carbon dioxide and/or the sulfur dioxide pass directly over from the vapor state into the solid state via an anti-sublimation process.

Denis Clodic

Papers

Combined Cycle for Hybrid Vehicles

Method and system for extracting carbon dioxide by anti-sublimation for storage thereof

CO2 capture by anti-sublimation Thermo-economic process evaluation

Novel capture processes

Method of extracting carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide by means of anti-sublimation for the storage thereof