Concrete CO2 Absorber Columns for Large-Scale Flue Gas Scrubbing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The capture and storage of carbon dioxide from industrial gas streams, particularly from coal-fired power stations, is challenging due to the technical and economic limitations of conventional absorber and stripper columns made of steel, including scaling issues and fluid medium malistribution.
Innovation Solution
A reactor constructed with concrete or structural ceramics, featuring a chamber with a substrate for contact between a gas phase rich in carbon dioxide and a liquid absorbent, allowing for efficient scrubbing and separation of CO2 through single-stream processing, which reduces operating and capital costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional steel absorber and stripper columns are used for CO2 capture, then high capture efficiency and selectivity are achieved, but technical and economic costs increase significantly due to scaling issues and equipment parameter limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter of the reactor construction from conventional steel to concrete or structural ceramics. This material substitution enables the construction of large-scale reactors (handling up to 3000 t/day CO2) with reduced capital costs while maintaining the required capture efficiency and selectivity of the absorption process
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite construction approaches where concrete or structural ceramic materials are used in combination with appropriate linings or coatings to achieve both the structural requirements for large-scale construction and the chemical resistance needed for high capture efficiency in CO2 absorption operations
2Productivity
If conventional steel columns are used for CO2 removal, then adequate fluid handling is achieved, but equipment parameter limitations including column diameters and heat exchanger sizes restrict scalability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the structural parameter of column diameter by using concrete construction, which allows for much larger diameters (scaling to handle 3000 t/day CO2) compared to conventional steel columns. This material change removes the practical diameter limitations that constrain productivity in steel-based systems
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from the conventional limited dimensional constraints of steel columns to expanded dimensional possibilities with concrete construction, enabling significantly larger column diameters and volumes that accommodate high gas flow rates and large-scale CO2 capture requirements
3Reliability
If conventional steel absorber columns are used, then CO2 absorption is achieved, but fluid medium maldistribution occurs in the columns
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the internal structural parameters of the absorber by using concrete construction with integrated distribution systems, which improve fluid medium distribution throughout the column cross-section. The concrete structure allows for optimized internal geometries that enhance liquid and gas phase contact and eliminate maldistribution problems
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The reactor effectively handles large gas flow rates, such as those from coal-fired power stations, by enabling efficient contact between gas and liquid phases, reducing construction costs by up to 35% and minimizing heat loss, while maintaining operational efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a liquid absorbent for removing carbon dioxide from the gas phase
Implementation Method 2
the chamber containing a solid substrate that may be either one of a) an absorbing medium either as a fixed bed or a moving bed, or alternatively b) a substantially inert substrate, conventionally called packing that facilitates contact between a liquid absorbent and the gas stream
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to reactor vessels such as absorbing or stripping columns that are suitable for capturing carbon dioxide from flue gas streams of fossil fuel fired powered stations such as coal fired power stations generating 100 to 500 MW. The side walls of the reactors are made of concrete or structural ceramics that are preferrably steel reinforced. The reactors are on a sufficiently large scale such that a flue gas stream in the order of at least 1,000 t/hr and normally greater than 2,000 or 3,000 t/hr can be scrubbed of carbon dioxide in a single absorption column and then recovered in a stripping column. The absorbing and stripping columns may be free standing structures or, alternatively, the absorbing column may be located at least partially within the stripping column.