Impact of Fuel Selection on Techno-environmental Performance of Post-combustion Calcium Looping Process Applied to a Cement Plant

Calcium looping CO2 capture is a promising technology to reduce CO2 emissions from cement production. Coal is generally considered the fuel used to drive the calcium looping process as coal is already used as feedstock for cement production. This study assesses the impact of different fuels (coal, natural gas and woody biomass) on the technological and environmental performance of post-combustion calcium looping at a cement plant in North-western Europe. Process modelling is used to determine the impact of the different fuels on the mass and energy balance of the process. Life cycle assessment is carried out to evaluate the environmental performance of the different systems. Results indicate that firing natural gas or biomass instead of coal in an add-on calcium looping process can improve the efficiency of the process, as it decreases the fuel, limestone and electricity consumption. Consequently, while coal fired calcium looping can reduce life cycle climate change potential by 92%, the use of natural gas or biomass can make the process carbon neutral (reduction of 100%) or negative (-169%), respectively. Further research is required to complete the environmental perspective of using alternative fuels, but these results already illustrate a potential low-hanging fruit to improve the environmental performance of post combustion calcium looping in the cement industry.

[1]  Stefano Brandani,et al.  Process integration of a Ca-looping carbon capture process in a cement plant , 2013 .

[2]  Liang-Shih Fan,et al.  Process simulation and economic analysis of the Calcium Looping Process (CLP) for hydrogen and electricity production from coal and natural gas , 2013 .

[3]  Rahul Anantharaman,et al.  Post-combustion CO2 capture from a natural gas combined cycle by CaO/CaCO3 looping , 2012 .

[4]  Luis M. Romeo,et al.  The Calcium‐Looping Technology for CO2 Capture: On the Important Roles of Energy Integration and Sorbent Behavior , 2016 .

[5]  Juan Carlos Abanades,et al.  Process design of a hydrogen production plant from natural gas with CO2 capture based on a novel Ca/Cu chemical loop , 2014 .

[6]  N. Bird,et al.  Is woody bioenergy carbon neutral? A comparative assessment of emissions from consumption of woody bioenergy and fossil fuel , 2012 .

[7]  Mónica Alonso,et al.  Operational feasibility of biomass combustion with in situ CO2 capture by CaO during 360 h in a 300 kWth calcium looping facility , 2016 .

[8]  Andrea Ramírez,et al.  Assessing the techno-environmental performance of CO2 utilization via dry reforming of methane for the production of dimethyl ether , 2016 .

[9]  Calin-Cristian Cormos,et al.  Assessment of chemical absorption/adsorption for post-combustion CO2 capture from Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) power plants , 2015 .

[10]  Panagiotis Grammelis,et al.  Integration of calcium looping technology in existing cement plant for CO2 capture: Process modeling and technical considerations , 2015 .

[11]  Alireza Talaei,et al.  Comparative life cycle assessment of biomass co-firing plants with carbon capture and storage , 2014 .

[12]  Tim Cockerill,et al.  Life cycle greenhouse gas assessment of a coal-fired power station with calcium looping CO2 capture and offshore geological storage , 2012 .

[13]  Eric Johnson,et al.  Goodbye to carbon neutral: Getting biomass footprints right , 2009 .

[14]  Fabio Montagnaro,et al.  Calcium looping spent sorbent as a limestone replacement in the manufacture of portland and calcium sulfoaluminate cements. , 2015, Environmental science & technology.