Results from trialling aqueous NH3 based post-combustion capture in a pilot plant at Munmorah power station: Absorption

Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) and Delta Electricity have developed, commissioned and operated an A$7 million aqueous NH3 based post-combustion capture (PCC) pilot plant at the Munmorah black coal fired power station in Australia. The results from the pilot plant trials will be used to address the gap in know-how on application of aqueous NH3 for post-combustion capture of CO2 and other pollutants in the flue gas and explore the potential of the NH3 process for application in the Australia power sector. This paper is one of a series of publications to report and discuss the experimental results obtained from the pilot plant trials and primarily focuses on the absorption section. The pilot plant trials have confirmed the technical feasibility of the NH3 based capture process. CO2 removal efficiency of more than 85% can be achieved even with low NH3 content of up to 6 wt%. The NH3 process is effective for SO2 but not for NO in the flue gas. More than 95% of SO2 in the flue gas is removed in the pre-treatment column using NH3. The mass transfer coefficients for CO2 in the absorber as functions of CO2 loading and NH3 concentration have been obtained based on pilot plant data. (C) 2011 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.