New Configuration of the CO2 Capture Process Using Aqueous Monoethanolamine for Coal-Fired Power Plants

Postcombustion CO 2 capture with aqueous monoethanolamine (MEA) scrubbing is one of the most promising and well-proven techniques for reducing CO 2 emissions into the atmosphere. However, this process has a critical problem: the high reboiler heat energy requirement for solvent regeneration at the stripper reboiler. To reduce the reboiler heat requirement, this paper suggests a new stripper configuration for CO 2 capture with MEA, namely a combined rich vapor recompression (RVR) and cold solvent split (CSS). The RVR is a newly developed configuration, involving vaporizing a cold solvent in the heat exchanger, thereby maximizing the heat exchanger preheating duty under low pressure. The CSS is a well-known configuration, feeding the split cold solvent to the stripper top and eliminating the reflux rate in the stripper by cooling the stripper top. The RVR process is dramatically improved w…