Analysis of Absorber Packed Height for Power Plants with Post-Combustion CO2 Capture

The electricity generation process from fossil fuels is one of the sources of CO2 emissions. The post-combustion CO2 capture is an alternative to minimize emissions. The packed absorption column is the first unit of the CO2 capture process. In this study, the values of the process parameters were established to reduce the absorber-packed height using a simulator developed in this work. The simulator was validated using measurements in a laboratory-scale absorption unit; simulations were carried out with the same operating conditions as measurements and two different fuels were treated; coal and natural gas. A combined-cycle power plant in Mexico was simulated, with the objective of evaluating the main parameters in the absorption process and required dimensions of the packed absorption column required to carry out the capture of CO2 in the power plant. From the result of the simulations, three columns treatment with 3 m diameter and 7 m height were established to remove 99% of the CO2 of the flue gases with 20 wt.% of MEA composition using Mellapak 500Y structured packaging.