Expected CO2 removal from power plants

This post was last edited by fangqiong on 2011-3-15 at 14:48. That’s not possible; it’s impossible to remove even CO2. How much would there need to be? It’s better to plant trees!

This post was last edited by shanyee on 2009-5-4 22:12. A few hundred years, I guess; haha, desulfurization isn’t yet widely used, and denitrification has probably just begun. The original poster is really forward-thinking – we’re already dealing with carbon dioxide removal! Everything in the world is composed of carbon; do you think it’s possible to get rid of the carbon dioxide produced by combustion? !

Some chemical plants have already adopted flue gas CO2 removal technology, and there are no technical issues. But all these removals are for application, that is, to use CO2 as a raw material. As for the large-scale removal of CO2 – such a large amount – where would it be used?

Removing CO2 is just a matter of time; CO2 can be stored using dry ice. It is necessary for everyone to conduct more in-depth comparisons and discussions to determine whether it is better to plant trees or to use a set of processes to remove CO2. Power plant CO2 represents a stationary source, and although it accounts for a small proportion of total CO2 emissions, the fact that it is a stationary source makes it a target and direction for removal in the future; this is also a topic that requires discussion and research. As for all that CO2 that is fixed, where to store it and how to use it – everyone can use their imagination……

There is another concept now, namely C-balance. I’m not sure if everyone is familiar with it?

Controlling CO2 emissions is inevitable sooner or later; there is strong international pressure on this matter, and removing CO2 from the atmosphere is an unavoidable trend. However, CO2 storage and utilization must be considered in advance, otherwise the value chain will be shortened.

　　As far as I know, the removal of CO2 from coal-fired power plants has already begun. At the APEC meeting held in Australia at the beginning of September, President Hu signed a \"Joint Statement on Climate Change and Energy Issues between the People’s Republic of China and the Commonwealth of Australia\" with the Australian side; the first point of this statement concerns the removal of CO2 from coal-fired power generation. Huaneng Group has also signed relevant framework agreements with Australia (as reported by Xinhua News Agency on September 6). 　　Currently, there are also those who are skeptical about the prospects for carbon removal from coal combustion smoke, and the main reasons for this are as follows: (1) Cost issues; (2) Technical issues. Regarding cost issues, the costs are currently high whether it is before combustion, during combustion, or after combustion. Of course, the reasons for these differences vary depending on the technology used. In general, I believe that as technology matures and market competition intensifies, there is room for cost reduction. For this, one can refer to the changes in electricity generation capacity costs and electricity desulfurization costs over the past few years. 　　Regarding technical issues, taking post-decarbonization as an example, CO2 separation is no longer a technical challenge; the difficulty lies in the treatment of the separated CO2. It is impossible to achieve this through the use of CO2. Taking a plant with a capacity of 1200 MW as an example, with 5000 hours of power generation per year, the amount of CO2 removed would be sufficient to meet the CO2 needs of various industries across the country. It is clear that the technical solution lies in CO2 sequestration, in order to achieve genuine emission reductions. Regarding the feasibility and safety of sealing design, the associated technology is not yet mature. Someone mentioned above that carbon is the foundation of the cycle of all things, not realizing that this carbon has already existed underground for hundreds of millions of years (in coal).

As long as CO2 finds wider and more extensive applications, CO2 removal from power plants will become a priority. The key lies in the uses of CO2; the technology is already highly mature!

I am currently working on projects related to CO2 removal. Even before the 2008 Olympics, a power plant in Beijing had already started using equipment for CO2 removal. Given the current global climate anomalies, it is reasonable to attribute them to excessive CO2 emissions. Since the costs of carbon removal are currently high and there are still many shortcomings in the available methods, widespread use in power plants is still some time away. The focus of current research is on finding an adsorbent or adsorption method that offers high selectivity, a large adsorption capacity, and easy desorption – I hope this will become the direction of everyone’s research.