Simulation and energy performance assessment of CO2 removal from crude synthetic natural gas via physical absorption process

The paper presents an energy performance assessment of CO2 removal for crude synthetic natural gas (SNG) upgrade by Selexol absorption process. A simplified process simulation of the Selexol process concerning power requirement and separation performance was developed. The assessment indicates that less pressure difference between crude SNG and absorption pressure favors the energy performance of CO2 removal process. When both crude SNG and absorption pressures are 20 bar, CO2 removal process has the best energy performance. The optimal specific power consumption of the CO2 removal process is 566 kJ/kg(CO2). The sensitivity analysis shows that the CO2 removal efficiency would significantly influence the total power consumption of the removal process, as well as higher heating value (HHV) and CO2 content in SNG. However, the specific power consumption excluding crude SNG and SNG compressions changes little with the variance of CO2 removal efficiency. If by-product CO2 is compressed for CO2 capture, the process would turn into a CO2-sink for the atmosphere. Correspondingly, an increase of 281 kJ/kg(CO2) in specific power consumption is required for compressing the separated CO2.