Reducing the Cost of Post-Combustion CO2 Capture Through Solar Thermal Integration: Techno-Economic Analysis of Industrial Case Studies

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Provides a validated techno-economic model for integrating CSH with PCC, useful for further optimization and scenario analysis.

🏢実務担当者:Offers breakeven Capex thresholds for solar integration, helping companies evaluate CCUS project feasibility under different energy and irradiation conditions.

🏛政策担当者:Highlights that solar thermal integration can de-risk carbon capture projects and may require policy support (e.g., subsidies) to achieve profitability in low-cost scenarios.

This paper presents a techno-economic assessment aimed at reducing the high cost of post-combustion CO2 capture (PCC) by integrating Concentrating Solar Heat (CSH) to provide the thermal energy required for solvent regeneration. The study evaluates the integration across different industrial sectors, climatic zones, and energy markets to identify the conditions under which CSH can effectively reduce the Levelized Cost of CO2 Avoided (LCCA) and enhance the economic viability of carbon capture projects. Three industrial cases with varying flue gas characteristics were analyzed: a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT), an industrial gas boiler, and a cement plant. These cases were evaluated under two distinct economic and two environmental scenarios. A process model of the capture plant was developed in Aspen Plus and validated against literature data. This model was then coupled with a parabolic-trough CSH system to match solar heat production with reboiler duty, utilizing a fossil-fueled backup for continuous operation. The CSH integrates a Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system, and it was modeled using NREL's System Advisor Model (SAM) with hourly resolution. The solar field and TES sizing were optimized for each configuration. The results are presented in terms of two "breakeven Capex": the maximum allowable solar plant investment required (1) to reduce the LCCA and (2) to achieve a 7% internal rate of return (IRR) of the overall CO2 capture project. The cement plant case demonstrates the highest potential: under high energy-cost scenarios and low irradiation, a Capex of 460 EUR/m2 is sufficient to reduce the LCCA, while this threshold rises to 854 EUR/m2 in high-irradiation scenarios. In this last scenario traditional fossil-fuel-based capture fails to reach a 7% IRR, and a solar Capex of 529 EUR/m2 can act as an economic enabler. Conversely, for the CCGT case, the availability of low-pressure steam extraction limits CSH competitiveness to a breakeven Capex of 287 EUR/m2. In the gas-boiler case the unfavorable capture economics prevent CSH from bringing profitability to the investment. The study concludes that CSH integration for amine regeneration is a strategic de-risking tool for carbon capture projects and it can be an enabler for carbon capture projects, particularly in large-scale and high-energy-cost industrial scenarios.

• semanticscholar https://doi.org/10.2118/233226-msfirst seen 2026-07-04 05:28:38