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

Momentum is gatheringbehind the goal of achieving net-zero CO2 emissions by2050 in Europe and around the world. Negativeemissions via biomass or waste combustion with CO2 capturecan make net zero considerably easier to achieve. This study investigatesCO(2) capture from combined heat and power (CHP) plants thatoften use bio-based fuels. However, most CO2 capture processesrequire large amounts of heat, potentially consuming most of the CHPplant's primary product. The novel continuous swing adsorptionreactor (CSAR) concept provides a promising solution by capturingCO(2) using electrically driven heat and vacuum pumps. Techno-economicassessments conducted in this work illustrate that CSAR clearly outperformsan MEA benchmark when the CHP plant sells heat throughout the year(MEA would need a heat price below 10 euro/MWh at an electricityprice of 60 euro/MWh to compete). When large amounts of free heatare available in summer months, MEA becomes more attractive, but aflexible CSAR configuration utilizing free heat during summer maintainsa clear advantage for CSAR (MEA needs a heat price below 15 euro/MWhat an electricity price of 60 euro/MWh). Stronger competitionarises from advanced solvents such as PZ/AMP that can match CSAR atalmost double the heat price of MEA. Still, CSAR will remain attractivein most cases, especially for retrofits where considerable capitalexpenditures would be required to provide existing heat customerswith an alternative heat supply if solvent technologies are used.Thus, CSAR appears to be a promising technology for achieving negativeemissions from CHP plants.