PNNL

Abstract

Comprehensive carbon management will require capture and use or storage of CO2 from a diversity of stack emissions and intermediate chemical process streams. While there has been a lot of attention paid to estimating the total amount of carbon dioxide available for capture, less is known about other constituents in CO2-laden streams that could directly affect the choice and performance of capture technology, and hence cost of capture and separation. The physical characteristics of these CO2-laden streams, such as temperature and pressure, also affect the choice of capture technology. In this paper, detailed compositions of power plant emissions as well as industrial CO2-laden emissions such as from cement plants, iron and steel plants, and refineries, are presented. Industrial emissions may well provide early opportunities for implementation of CO2 capture and separation technologies, due to higher concentrations of CO2 in flue gas and process streams. In addition, industrial emissions may offer lower cost CO2 for storage, uses such as enhanced oil recovery, or as a high-purity chemical feedstock. This paper also discusses some well-known capture technologies available today or under development, and describes their applicability to different CO2-capture opportunities. Limitations of the best available current technologies and implications for research issues associated with various streams are discussed.