Carbon capture and storage system using pinch design method

Abstract

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) have been investigated for a long time. It was intended to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere due to fossil fuel combustion in power generation and industrial processes. CO2 is captured and stored in various geological formations. The problem here is to match between source and sink such that alternative storage and unutilized storage capacities are minimum. Pinch Design Method as has been proposed by was used in this work. The concept is overwhelming that it can be used other than in the heat exchanger networks, such as in the water system design, mass exchanger networks and many other processes. Initially this concept was applied to carbon capture and storage but with no exact pairing between sources and sinks as proposed in this work using grid diagram as commonly shown in other processes. This work can point out the exact pairing between sources and sinks, and within the given time frame. A four different cases are investigated where the time difference between the starting time of CO2 generated in the source and the beginning of sink availability. A value of 0, 5, 10 and 15 years are chosen to evaluate the amount of CO2 that has to be stored and the amount of unutilized storage capacity. The case study has been prepared with 5 sources and 3 sinks. The result shows that the larger time difference the larger alternative storage and unutilized storage capacities. Therefore, having a shorter time difference will be more acceptable in the design CCS system.