Optimizing the CCS unit process towards reducing exergy loss and utility consumption

The increasing need for electricity has led to the construction of countless thermal power plants around the world. Increasing the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere and intensifying the greenhouse phenomenon is one of the most important problems of creating new power plants. In the meantime, carbon capturing and storage which removes and stores carbon dioxide output from power plants plays a very important role in reducing the greenhouse effect. The main and fundamental problem of carbon absorption units is the lack of production of a product with high economic value, and practically, a very significant reduction in the return on investment ratio makes it uneconomical. By determining optimal process conditions and reducing exergy loss, the establishment of these units can be justified to an acceptable extent. In this article, the carbon captur unit of one of the country's power plants is simulated first and then analyzed from exergy loss point of view, and finally, by determining the optimal operating conditions, the unit's utility consumption reduced as much as possible. According to the conducted studies, the utility consumption and exergy loss of the unit are directly related to the temperature of the fluid entering the amine recovery tower. After performing the calculations and determining the optimal conditions compared to the reference state, it was found that in the medium range of carbon recovery, exergy loss is reduced to about 15% and utility consumption is reduced to 3%.