Reduction of energy consumption in post-combustion carbon capture process via amine-functionalized metal-organic frameworks

In this study, CO₂ capture performance of ethylenediamine-functionalized Mg-MOF-74 (EDMOF-74) suspended in 30 wt% monoethanolamine (MEA) aqueous solution is analyzed. A CO₂ absorption experiment was performed in a bubble column reactor based on EDMOF-74 concentrations of 0.005, 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 wt% for different ethylenediamine loadings. It shows that EDMOF-74/30 wt% MEA mixtures improve CO₂ absorption performance by a maximum of 7.18 % as compared with the base fluid. Subsequent experiment based on large-volume feed gas reveals a less volatile CO₂ absorption rate. By adding EDMOF-74 to the 30 wt% MEA aqueous solution in a cyclic CO₂ absorption experiment to evaluate its industrial application, an increase in durability is indicated, which implies a reduction in energy consumption during CO₂ regeneration. A feasibility study on the reduction of CO₂ regeneration energy was investigated in terms of the results of cyclic experiment and the facility status of Boryeong power plant. The CO₂ regeneration energy can be reduced by 13.64 %, which corresponds to a decrease of 484,233 MWh_t/year for 1 unit of the Boryeong power plant. The abovementioned approach is expected to compensate for the disadvantages of MEA in the industrial CO₂ capture process, i.e., low CO₂ capacity and high CO₂ regeneration energy input.