This report presents the technical and economic evaluation of the retrofit installation of a new carbon capture unit within three existing industrial facilities representatives of typical plants operating in the United States: a cement plant of 900,000 te/y of cement clinker, a pulp and paper manufacturing of 400,000 adt/y, and a petroleum refinery of 400,000 bbl/d.
The primary goal was to achieve a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions, contributing to environmental sustainability. The project utilized generic (nonproprietary) carbon capture technology with amine as the solvent.
To conduct this work, a detailed assessment of each facility's flue gas characteristics, existing utility units and available thermal/electric energy sources was carried out. Customized carbon capture solutions with the necessary utilities were designed and seamlessly integrated into existing operations. Key performance indicators, including CO2 capture efficiency and energy consumption, were carefully analyzed.
The results demonstrated a significant decrease in CO2 emissions, with each facility successfully achieving the 90% reduction target. The CO2 emissions per cement production reduce from 0.73 to 0.09 kg CO2/kg cement with the carbon capture, the CO2 emissions per pulp production from 2.7 to 0.27 kg CO2/kg pulp, and the CO2 emissions per crude oil production from 0.21 to 0.03 kg CO2/kg oil. These findings underscore the effectiveness and scalability of the carbon capture technology employed, showcasing its potential for widespread application across various industries.
The impact of the carbon capture retrofit was also analyzed, in terms of Total Plant Costs and Operating/Maintenance Costs, for the economic feasibility evaluation of each type of manufacturing facility.