Demonstration of a post-combustion carbon capture pilot plant using amine-based solvents at the Łaziska Power Plant in Poland

As a part of the strategic research program “Advanced technologies for energy generation: Development of a technology for highly efficient zero-emission coal-fired power units integrated with CO 2 capture”, a mobile CO 2 absorption pilot plant was erected. The main purpose of the pilot plant was to demonstrate the post-combustion technology in conjunction with a coal-fired power plant. The pilot plant captured CO 2 by chemical absorption in amine-based solvents, which was considered to be the best adapted technology to the requirements of coal-fired power plants and suitable for retrofitting to existing units. The pilot plant captured up to 1000 kg/day of CO 2 from the power plant’s flue gases with CO 2 recovery exceeding 90 %. The flexible process flowsheet of the pilot plant offered high potential for the validation of various improvements, which were designed to reduce the process energy demand and to increase the CO 2 recovery. This paper summarizes the initial operation experience at the TAURON Łaziska Power Plant in Poland. Selected first results obtained are presented and discussed. The initial campaigns utilized 20 and 30 wt% monoethanolamine (MEA) solutions recognized as baseline solvents that were suitable for comparative purposes. The initial campaigns at the pilot plant successfully demonstrated reliable operation and promising results.