Carbon capture system and method with resilient power recovery
The system compresses and processes a feed fluid stream in a carbon capture system to recover power through a turbine, addressing high energy demands and improving efficiency by enabling higher pressure operation.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- JP2025543231
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2023-01-27
- Filing Date
- 2024-01-26
- Publication Date
- 2026-02-10
AI Technical Summary
Current carbon capture systems face high energy requirements due to the need for intermittent operation and inefficient power recovery from carbon dioxide recovery processes.
A system and method for compressing a feed fluid stream in a carbon capture system, removing a carbon dioxide fraction, and using a turbine to convert pressure into work for power recovery, thereby enhancing efficiency.
Enhances the efficiency of carbon capture systems by recovering power from the compressed fluid stream, allowing operation at higher pressures and reducing energy costs.
Smart Images
Figure 2026505019000001_ABST
Abstract
Description
[Technical Field]
[0001] Priority claims
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 481,916, filed January 27, 2023, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
[0002]
[0002] The systems and methods herein relate generally to power production. More particularly, the systems and methods relate to power recovery in carbon capture systems. [Background technology]
[0003]
[0003] Intermittent carbon capture is essential based on current scientific consensus, but the energy requirements are high for even the most efficient carbon dioxide recovery systems. Improved carbon capture will require advances in all fluid handling fields. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]
[0004] In a first aspect, the disclosure provides a system for recovering power from a pressurized feed fluid stream of a carbon capture system. A compression system is configured to compress the feed fluid stream to provide a pressurized feed fluid stream. The feed fluid stream includes a carbon dioxide fraction. The carbon capture system is configured to remove a portion of the carbon dioxide fraction from the compressed feed fluid stream to provide a depleted fluid stream. A turbine is configured to recover power from the depleted fluid stream by converting pressure into work through the turbine.
[0005] In a second aspect, the disclosure provides a method for recovering electrical power from a compressed feed fluid stream of a carbon capture system. A feed fluid stream containing a carbon dioxide fraction is provided. The feed fluid stream is compressed in a compression system to produce a compressed feed fluid stream. A portion of the carbon dioxide fraction is removed from the compressed feed fluid stream in the carbon capture system to result in a depleted fluid stream. Electrical power is extracted from the depleted fluid stream by converting pressure into work through a turbine.
[0006]
[0006] Further aspects and embodiments are provided in the above drawings, detailed description, and claims.
[0007] The following drawings are provided to illustrate certain embodiments described herein. The drawings are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention, nor are they intended to show every possible feature or embodiment of the claimed invention. The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and in some instances, certain elements of the drawings may be enlarged relative to other elements of the drawings for illustrative purposes. [Brief explanation of the drawings]
[0007] [Figure 1]
[0008] 1 is a process flow diagram illustrating a system for recovering power from a pressurized feed fluid stream of a carbon capture system. [Figure 2]
[0009] 1 is a process flow diagram illustrating a system for recovering power from a pressurized feed fluid stream of a carbon capture system. [Figure 3]
[0010] 1 is a process flow diagram illustrating a system for recovering power from a pressurized feed fluid stream of a carbon capture system. [Figure 4]
[0011] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for recovering power from a pressurized feed fluid stream of a carbon capture system. [Figure 5]
[0012] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for recovering power from a pressurized feed fluid stream of a carbon capture system. [Figure 6]
[0013] 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for recovering power from a pressurized feed fluid stream of a carbon capture system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0008]
[0014] The following description lists various aspects and embodiments of the invention disclosed herein. No particular embodiment is intended to define the scope of the invention. Rather, the embodiments provide non-limiting examples of various compositions and methods that fall within the scope of the claimed invention. The description is read from the perspective of one of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, information that is familiar to one of ordinary skill in the art is not necessarily included. definition
[0015] The following terms and phrases have the meanings indicated below unless otherwise provided herein. This disclosure may use other terms and phrases not expressly defined herein. Such other terms and phrases shall have the meaning they would have to one of ordinary skill in the art within the context of this disclosure. In some cases, a term or phrase may be defined in the singular or in the plural. In such cases, it is understood that any term in the singular may include its plural counterpart, and vice versa, unless expressly indicated to the contrary.
[0009]
[0016] As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. For example, reference to "a substituent" includes a single substituent as well as two or more substituents, and the like.
[0010]
[0017] As used herein, "for example," "for instance," "such as," or "including" means introducing an example that further clarifies a more general subject matter. Unless expressly indicated otherwise, such examples are provided only as an aid in understanding the embodiments set forth in this disclosure and are not meant to be limiting in any way. These phrases do not imply any kind of preference for the disclosed embodiments.
[0011]
[0018] As used herein, "turbine" refers to turbines, expanders, hydroexpanders, and other devices that reduce the pressure of a fluid while extracting work from the pressure drop.
[0012]
[0019] As used herein, "carbon capture" refers to the removal of carbon dioxide and other acid gases from fluid streams, particularly gas streams such as flue gas, refinery off-gas, and other gases as defined below. Acid gases include carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, mercury, mercury oxides, and carbon monoxide.
[0013]
[0020] As used herein, "waste heat" is any heat that is normally lost as part of a process. Recovering heat from a waste heat stream means that a cooler stream is forced against the waste heat stream across a heat exchanger, such as an indirect contact heat exchanger.
[0014]
[0021] As used herein, "dried" refers to a gas or liquid stream from which water has been removed, such as when flue gas is dried to remove moisture, resulting in a dried flue gas stream.
[0015]
[0022] As used herein, "depleted" refers to a gas or liquid stream from which components such as carbon dioxide have been removed. A flue gas stream from which carbon dioxide has been removed is a depleted gas stream.
[0016]
[0023] As used herein, "wet" refers to a gas or liquid stream to which water has been added, such as when the contact liquid captures water and becomes a wet contact liquid.
[0017]
[0024] As used herein, "enriched" refers to a gas or liquid stream to which a component has been added, such as when a contact liquid captures carbon dioxide and becomes an enriched contact liquid.
[0018]
[0025] Combustion flue gas consists of exhaust gas from fireplaces, ovens, furnaces, boilers, steam generators, or other combustors. Combustion fuel sources include coal, hydrocarbons, and biomass. Combustion flue gas varies significantly in composition depending on the combustion method and fuel source. Combustion in pure oxygen produces little to no nitrogen in the flue gas. Combustion using air leads to a large amount of flue gas consisting of nitrogen. Non-nitrogen flue gas consists mostly of carbon dioxide, water, and sometimes unconsumed oxygen. Small amounts of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, hydrogen sulfide, and trace amounts of hundreds of other chemicals are present depending on the source. Entrained dust and soot will also be present in all combustion flue gas streams. The disclosed method applies to any combustion flue gas. Dried combustion flue gas has water removed.
[0019]
[0026] Syngas consists of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide.
[0027] Producer gas consists of flue gas produced from materials such as coal, wood, or syngas. Producer gas consists mostly of carbon monoxide, with tars and carbon dioxide also present.
[0020]
[0028] Steam reforming is a process that produces hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and other compounds from hydrocarbon fuels, including natural gas. The steam reformate gas referred to herein consists primarily of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, with varying amounts of carbon dioxide and water.
[0021]
[0029] Light gases include gases that have a higher volatility than water, including hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen. This list is exemplary only and should not be implied to place limitations on the viability of other gases in the process. One skilled in the art will be able to evaluate any gas as to whether it has a higher volatility than water.
[0022]
[0030] Refinery off-gases include gases produced by refining precious metals such as gold and silver. These off-gases tend to contain significant amounts of mercury and other metals.
[0031] No carbon capture system known to the inventors compresses a feed fluid stream, removes carbon dioxide, and then recovers power from the compressed system. The disclosed system compresses flue gas or other carbon dioxide containing feed gas, flows this gas stream through a carbon capture process, then expands the depleted gas stream through a turbine and recovers power from the higher pressure fluid. This allows the carbon capture system to operate at higher pressures. Higher pressures are more efficient for some carbon capture processes, but compression is a significant expense. However, by recovering this power, efficiency is increased for the carbon capture system. This power can come from a source of electricity, compressed natural gas, compressed inert gas, mechanical work, or other types of power recovery.
[0023]
[0032] The flow rate through the turbine is lower than the flow rate through the compressor due to carbon dioxide removal.
[0033] Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which is a process flow diagram illustrating a system for recovering power from a compressed feed fluid stream of a carbon capture system that may be used in one embodiment of the present disclosure. Feed fluid stream 150 includes a carbon dioxide fraction. A multi-stage (or single-stage?) compressor 112 (with heat exchanger 112) is configured to isothermally compress feed fluid stream 150 to produce compressed feed fluid stream 160. A carbon capture system 114 is configured to remove a portion of the carbon dioxide from compressed feed fluid stream 160, resulting in depleted fluid stream 170 and carbon dioxide stream 174. A second heat exchanger 116 is configured to heat depleted fluid stream 170 against a waste heat stream, resulting in a warm depleted gas stream 172. A turbine 118 is configured to extract power from warm depleted gas stream 172 by converting pressure to work through turbine 118, resulting in a low-pressure depleted gas stream 180. The work produced by the expansion over the turbine 118 is the recovered power for the system.
[0024]
[0034] Non-limiting examples of suitable carbon capture systems are provided in commonly assigned U.S. Patent Nos. 11,325,087 to Baxter, 11,318,417 to Baxter, 11,035,611 to Baxter et al., 10,995,984 to Baxter et al., 10,969,169 to Baxter et al., 10,213,731 to Baxter et al., 9,410,736 to Baxter, and 9,250,012 to Baxter, the contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.
[0025]
[0035] FIG. 2 is a process flow diagram illustrating a system for recovering power from a compressed feed fluid stream of a carbon capture system that may be used in an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure. In this illustrative embodiment, a flue gas stream containing carbon dioxide and other acid gases is feed fluid stream 250. A multi-stage compressor 210 with a heat exchanger 212 is configured to isothermally compress feed fluid stream 250 to produce compressed feed fluid stream 260. A low-temperature carbon capture system 214 is configured to remove a portion of the carbon dioxide and acid gases from compressed feed fluid stream 260, resulting in depleted fluid stream 270 and carbon dioxide stream 274. A second heat exchanger 216 is configured to heat depleted fluid stream 270 against a waste heat stream, resulting in warm depleted gas stream 272. A first turbine 218 is configured to extract power from warm depleted gas stream 272 by converting pressure to work through first turbine 218, resulting in low-pressure depleted gas stream 280. Carbon dioxide stream 274 is heated in third heat exchanger 220, resulting in warm carbon dioxide 276. Second turbine 222 is configured to extract power from warm depleted gas stream 276 by converting pressure to work through second turbine 222, resulting in low-pressure carbon dioxide stream 282. The work produced by expansion across first and second turbines 218 and 222 is recovered power for the system.
[0026]
[0036] 3 is a process flow diagram illustrating a system for recovering power from a compressed feed fluid stream of a carbon capture system that may be used in one embodiment of the present disclosure. Feed fluid stream 350 includes a carbon dioxide fraction. Compressor 310 is configured to compress feed fluid stream 350 to produce compressed feed fluid stream 360. Carbon capture system 314 is configured to remove a portion of the carbon dioxide from compressed feed fluid stream 360, resulting in depleted fluid stream 370 and carbon dioxide stream 374. Turbine 318 is configured to extract power from depleted gas stream 372 by converting pressure to work through turbine 318, resulting in low-pressure depleted gas stream 380. The work generated by expansion across turbine 318 is the recovered power for the system.
[0027]
[0037] 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for recovering electrical power from a compressed feed fluid stream of a carbon capture system that may be used in one embodiment of the present disclosure. At 400, a feed fluid stream containing a carbon dioxide fraction is provided. At 401, the feed fluid stream is compressed in a compression system to produce a compressed feed fluid stream. At 402, a portion of the carbon dioxide fraction is removed from the compressed feed fluid stream in the carbon capture system, resulting in a depleted fluid stream. At 403, electrical power is extracted from the depleted fluid stream by converting pressure into work through a turbine.
[0028]
[0038] 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for recovering electrical power from a compressed feed fluid stream of a carbon capture system that may be used in one embodiment of the present disclosure. At 500, a feed fluid stream containing a carbon dioxide fraction is provided. At 501, the feed fluid stream is isothermally compressed in a compression system to produce a compressed feed fluid stream. At 502, a portion of the carbon dioxide fraction is removed from the compressed feed fluid stream in the carbon capture system, resulting in a depleted fluid stream. At 503, the depleted fluid stream is heated against a waste heat stream in a second heat exchanger. At 504, electrical power is extracted from the depleted fluid stream by converting pressure into work through a turbine.
[0029]
[0039] 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for recovering electrical power from a compressed feed fluid stream of a carbon capture system that may be used in one embodiment of the present disclosure. At 600, a feed fluid stream containing a carbon dioxide fraction is provided. At 601, the feed fluid stream is isothermally compressed in a compression system to produce a compressed feed fluid stream. At 602, a portion of the carbon dioxide fraction is removed from the compressed feed fluid stream in the carbon capture system, resulting in a depleted fluid stream. At 603, the depleted fluid stream is heated against a waste heat stream in a second heat exchanger. At 604, electrical power is extracted from the depleted fluid stream by converting pressure to work through a first turbine. At 605, the carbon dioxide fraction is heated in a third heat exchanger. At 606, electrical power is extracted from the depleted fluid stream by converting pressure to work through a second turbine.
[0030]
[0040] While the invention has been described with reference to various specific and preferred embodiments and techniques, it will be understood that many variations and modifications may be made while remaining within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. 1. A system for recovering electrical power from a pressurized feed fluid stream of a carbon capture system, comprising: a compression system configured to receive and compress a feed fluid stream comprising a carbon dioxide fraction to provide the compressed feed fluid stream and direct the compressed feed stream to the carbon capture system; a turbine configured to receive a depleted fluid stream from the carbon capture system and extract power from the depleted fluid stream by converting pressure through the turbine to work; A system comprising:
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein removing a portion of the carbon dioxide fraction results in a reduction in the pressure of the pressurized feed fluid stream.
3. 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the compression system comprises one or more compressors in series with a heat exchanger configured to isothermally compress the feed fluid stream.
4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a second heat exchanger configured to heat the depleted fluid stream before the turbine.
5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the second heat exchanger is configured to heat the depleted fluid stream against a waste heat stream.
6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a second heat exchanger configured to cool the depleted fluid stream before the turbine.
7. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the portion of the carbon dioxide fraction is a fluid, and a second turbine is configured to extract power from the portion of the carbon dioxide fraction by converting pressure through the second turbine into work.
8. 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the feed fluid stream further comprises other acid gases consisting of sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, mercury, mercury oxides, and carbon monoxide, and the carbon recovery system is further configured to remove a portion of the other acid gases.
9. 1. A method for recovering power from a pressurized feed fluid stream of a carbon capture system, comprising: receiving a feed fluid stream comprising a carbon dioxide fraction; compressing the feed fluid stream in a compression system to produce a pressurized feed fluid stream; providing the pressurized feed fluid stream to the carbon capture system, resulting in a depleted fluid stream; extracting power from the depleted fluid stream by converting pressure into work through a turbine; A method comprising:
10. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein removing a portion of the carbon dioxide fraction results in a reduction in the pressure of the pressurized feed fluid stream.
11. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein compressing the feed fluid stream comprises multi-stage isothermal compression using one or more compressors in series with heat exchangers.
12. The method of claim 9 further comprising heating the depleted fluid stream in a second heat exchanger prior to the turbine.
13. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the depleted fluid stream is heated against a waste heat stream.
14. The method of claim 9 further comprising cooling the depleted fluid stream in a second heat exchanger prior to the turbine.
15. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the portion of the carbon dioxide fraction is a fluid, further comprising extracting power from the portion of the carbon dioxide fraction by converting pressure into work through a second turbine.
16. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the feed fluid stream further comprises other acid gases consisting of sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, mercury, mercury oxides, and carbon monoxide, a portion of which are removed in the carbon recovery system.