Feasibility Assessment for Amine-Based Shipboard Carbon Capture

Abstract

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) set goals to reduce CO₂ emissions by 40% in 2030 with efforts toward 70% in 2050 when compared with CO₂ released per ton-mile in 2008. Maritime traffic relies on non-renewable energy-dense fossil fuels and alternative energy sources have yet to prove feasible for a large sector of the industry. Shipboard carbon capture systems (SCC) offer a possible solution to maritime CO₂ emissions. Here, MEA-based carbon capture systems are designed and evaluated for a representative ultra large container vessel (RULCV) at various lean and rich amine loading pairs, and for 5 ships representative of various ship size categories with average shaft powers ranging from 36 MW to 256 kW. These test cases are evaluated using Aspen Plus and the Aspen Plus Economic Analyzer. To size components, reboiler duty, reboiler diameter, absorber, height, and absorber diameter are all designed for the system to operate at a 90% carbon capture rate with columns at an 80% approach to flooding. In addition to the absorber and stripper, heat exchangers, pumps, and a compressor are designed for these SCCs. The ship system components are evaluated independently and the overall cost of the system is determined from the sum of constituent costs. The carbon capture cost for these MEAbased systems is calculated at $100 to $200 per ton of CO₂.