Capturing CO2 from thermal power plants with a..bed of gravel?

To mitigate the effects of global warming, we need to change the way the world produces electricity. This will likely involve both more renewable energy in the grid and the capture of CO₂ from power plants. I am researching how we can reliably capture CO₂ from power plants that operate in a flexible manner.

Global CO₂ emissions must be significantly reduced over the coming decades, and we will see variable renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydro and marine power covering a larger portion of electricity production than they do today.

However, fossil power plants are also expected to play a role, since they are already in operation and can be ramped up and down to meet the electricity demand of the market. Due to their balancing role, thermal power plants will likely need to vary their operation more frequently in the future. To reduce their climate footprint, the deployment of CO₂ capture on such plants will be necessary.

The goal of my PhD work is to know how to control and operate a power plant with CO₂ capture under variable loads. Photo: Maren Agdestein/NTNU

Catching CO₂ with a bed of particles

I am researching CO₂ capture from thermal power plants. The method I use is called moving bed temperature-swing adsorption. Solid particles come in contact with the flue gas from the power plant and CO₂ attaches to the surface of the particles. When the particles are heated up, the CO₂ is released and can be collected in a high-purity stream.

Activated carbon particles can be used to capture CO2 and are among the materials considered in Skjervold’s research. The particles in this picture are smaller than 1 mm in diameter. Photo: Giorgia Mondino/SINTEF.

Modelling and simulation to keep the performance stable

My PhD work is based on modelling and simulation. I will both make use of models previously developed within my research group and build my own models. I want to study how the CO₂ capture process behaves over time when the operation of the power plant is varied. This means that the models I use are time-dependent (dynamic).

Through simulations I will investigate how the CO₂ capture process can be controlled and operated to keep the performance stable even though the power plant operation changes.

The larger goal

Ensuring the reliable supply of electricity is a key part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal no. 7 to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”. To achieve this goal, it will be important to know how to control and operate a power plant – with CO₂ capture system under variable loads, which is the goal of my PhD work.

Vidar Skjervold

Vidar Skjervold is a PhD Candidate at NTNU – Energy and Process Engineering (EPT). His research is a part of the InnCapPlant project, which is funded by the EEA Norway grants POLNOR program. The project has three partners: Cracow University of Technology (project leader), NTNU EPT and SINTEF Industry in Oslo.

This article was first published in the blog NTNU TekNat (NTNU Teknologi og naturvitenskap) about technology, research and education. 

Source: Skjervold, V. (2022, April 12th). Capturing CO2 from thermal power plants with a..bed of gravel? NTNU TekNat. https://www.ntnu.no/blogger/teknat/en/2022/04/12/capturing-co2-from-thermal-power-plants-with-a-bed-of-gravel/