The post-combustion capture pilot plant Niederaussem - Results of the first half of the testing programme

As part of the development cooperation of RWE Power, BASF and Linde - aiming at an advanced optimised CO2-scrubbing technology for power plant application - the first post-combustion capture pilot plant in Germany was constructed and commissioned at the lignite-fired 1,000 MW Niederaussem power station in 2009. The pre-assembly of the pilot plant started in October 2008 and commissioning took place in July 2009 as planned. 7.2 t of CO2 per day can be captured from a flue gas slipstream of the power plant downstream of the desulphurisation plant (FGD). The pilot plant comprises optimised components such as a flue gas pre-scrubbing direct contact cooler unit as well as a lean liquid cooler and an interstage cooler that both allow returning the solvent at different absorber heights. During a 6-month campaign, all aspects of the optimised process configuration were tested using 30%-weight MEA as benchmark solvent and the performance of a new advanced amine-based solvent developed by BASF was trialled. This paper summarises the operational experience gained and compares some of the results obtained for MEA with those of the new amine-based solvent. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.