Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Hughes, Sydney.
Data presented in poster is sourced from the Electrochemical Catalyst Sensitivity Analysis Tool. This tool comprises a material balance model with cost estimation to estimate the levelized cost of product for CO production via CO2 electrolysis. A set of sensitivity analyses on key system and financial parameters is included with results so that users can test the impacts of these parameters on LCOP.
With a global initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the iron & steel industry presents an impactful decarbonization opportunity. In the U.S., the iron & steel industry accounted for 4.8% of industrial CO2 emissions in 2019, or about 72 M tonnes of CO2. This poster presents on the techno-economics of retrofitting blast oxygen furnace (BOF) iron/steel plants in the U.S. with capture.
This PowerPoint presentation summarizes the cost and performance results of the techno-economic analysis of membrane-based carbon capture retrofits at cement plants, published in June 2024, titled “The Impact of Cement Plant Air Ingress on Membrane-Based CO2 Capture Retrofit Cost.” The analysis report used as a basis for slide contents was developed by NETL for publication in the scientific journal Carbon Capture Science and Technology.
This PowerPoint presentation summarizes the cost and performance results of the techno-economic analysis of membrane-based carbon capture retrofits at cement plants, published in June 2024, titled “The Impact of Cement Plant Air Ingress on Membrane-Based CO2 Capture Retrofit Cost.” The analysis report used as a basis for slide contents was developed by NETL for publication in the scientific journal Carbon Capture Science and Technology.
This is the user guide for the tool described here: Development of technologies that convert carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into products is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Carbon Conversion Program portfolio. One such technology under development converts CO 2 to value-added products via electrochemical reduction, where catalysts are used on the cathode to promote CO 2 conversion across the electrochemical catalyst (ECC) cell. Broadly, the ECC is integrated with balance of plant (BOP) equipment (e.g., compressors, pumps, heat exchangers, purification units) in system configurations to produce the desired product. To guide research and development (R&D) toward advancements that may make such conversion technologies economically competitive, researchers may use sensitivity analyses related to the ECC system cost and performance, including that of the cathodic and anodic catalysts. This tool is intended to inform developers and Program in assessing proposed R&D on ECC systems early in the development process. Results will guide researchers on where efforts would be best directed. The tool may be accessed here: https://www.netl.doe.gov/energy-analysis/details?id=55293cb1-6881-4181-a2b0-d00b711ce74b.
This poster presentation evaluates the cost of capturing CO2 from a 400,000 air dried tonne (adt)/year pulp production plant, using Shell’s CANSOLV post-combustion capture process. There are five steps in a pulp/paper process: wood preparation, pulping, chemical recovery, bleaching and papermaking. There are three sources of CO2: combustion of waste wood in the wood-preparation step; combustion of black liquor, a product of pulping; and combustion of natural gas coupled with CO2 generated from calcination of limestone in the lime kiln used in chemical recovery. Standalone (pulp only) and integrated (pulp + paper) mills are modeled. The base case results and sensitivity analyses are displayed.
This PowerPoint presentation summarizes the cost and performance results of the techno-economic analysis of carbon capture retrofits at representative cement plants, published in early 2023, titled “Analysis of Carbon Capture Retrofits for Cement Plants.” The analysis report used as a basis for slide contents was developed by NETL in partnership with the Portland Cement Association.
This PowerPoint presentation summarizes the recently published Carbon Capture Retrofit Databases and their supporting documents, such as user guides and studies used to inform cost and performance estimates. NETL publications used to develop slide contents include Cost of Capturing CO2 from Industrial Sources, 2022; Industrial CCRD, 2022; Eliminating the Derate of Carbon Capture Retrofits, 2023; PC CCRD, 2023; Cost and Performance of Retrofitting NGCC Units for Carbon Capture, 2023; and NGCC CCRD, 2023.
This document describes a methodology that allows developers and evaluators to assess the status of developmental, natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plant post-combustion carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) separation technologies with respect to NETL performance and cost metrics. Developmental CO 2 separation technologies that might apply for NGCC post-combustion power generation can be placed into several categories, including, but not limited to membranes, solvents, sorbents, adsorbents, and phase-change technologies. The intent of this product is to provide a consistent methodology for high-level comparison of in-development technology to a standardized baseline.
This document provides DOE-FECM specific guidance for conducting techno-economic analysis (TEA) on carbon conversion technologies using NETL's established TEA methodology. The intent is to provide guidance to develop a consistent methodology for evaluating carbon conversion technologies within the DOE-FECM portfolio. The document provides guidance on the analysis methodology, evaluation metrics including performance, cost, emissions, and market considerations, and ample references to guide the end user in the development of consistent TEA of carbon conversion technologies.
To address the data needs of energy system designers and to serve as a baseline for research and development, NETL has carried out a study to characterize the flexibility attributes - both performance and cost - of nine common commercial natural gas-fueled electricity generating units. The intermittent output of low-carbon, renewable power generation sources such as wind and solar create challenges to grid stability and reliability. Fossil-fueled power generation technologies are currently used to provide reliable, on-demand power during periods of reduced renewable output. Dispatchable generators must be able to accommodate increasing renewable generation as the nation pursues the Administration’s target of a decarbonized energy sector by 2035. As energy system experts seek to identify least-cost approaches to decarbonization, accurate cost and performance data characterizing dispatchable fossil generators that operate flexibly, at capacity factors that have been declining over time, and are needed to inform models for capacity expansion. Furthermore, these technologies continue to be a significant source of carbon dioxide emissions, providing the impetus for research and development, including the advancement and potential incorporation of carbon capture technologies. This study characterizes the cost and performance of select state-of-the-art natural gas-fueled power generation technologies: reciprocating internal combustion engines (RICE), simple cycle combustion turbines, and natural gas combined cycles (NGCC). An emphasis is placed on flexibility characteristics, such as part-load heat rate, ramp rates, start up times, and start up costs.
The objective of this study is to provide an estimate of the cost to capture CO 2 in retrofit applications at cement plants. The cement plant configurations considered in this study include natural gas and solid fuel (coal and coke) cases, and both wet- and dry kiln-fed plant designs, however the base cement plants in this study were not evaluated other than characterization of their kiln off-gas stream and high-level quantification of heat integration potential at the existing plant. In each case, the base cement plant produces 1.5 M tonnes per year of finished cement, assuming 91.4 percent clinker content. This analysis includes a 10 percent retrofit cost increase for process integration and low grade heat recovery, when compared to the analogous non-heat integration case. Heat integration is considered as a potential offset to capture system heating demands (i.e., as a percentage reduction). Recovery and reuse of excess heat from the base cement plant can provide economic benefits—primarily by reducing the need to purchase supplemental natural gas for CO 2 solvent regeneration—but any process improvement must be great enough to overcome the cost increases (i.e., capital and O&M) necessary to realize those benefits. With heat integration potential of 10 percent and 30 percent, that benefit wasn’t significant enough to offset the increase in capital and operating costs, and a cost of capture increase was observed based on the assumptions in this report. Benefits of heat integration potential may be realized when natural gas prices are higher, as demonstrated in the sensitivity to natural gas price where crossover points exist between heat integration cases and their respective non-heat integration cases. Four of the base cases were further evaluated to explore the cost implications of deeper levels of gas pre-treatment to remove oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and oxides of sulfur (SOx) from the kiln off-gas stream prior to CO 2 capture, purification, and compression. The results of these additional case analyses showed a 7.4–18.8 percent increase in cost of capture over the respective base case (i.e., analogous cases without SOx/NOx removal).
The objective of this study is to provide an estimate of the cost to capture carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from select industrial processes (ammonia, ethylene oxide, ethanol, natural gas processing, coal-to-liquids, gas-to-liquids, refinery hydrogen, cement, iron/steel, and pulp/paper). Each of the ten processes were chosen for analysis due to either the high purity of the CO 2 emission source (99–100 mole percent CO 2 ) or the large quantity of CO 2 potentially available. For each industrial process considered, available plant information, such as existing average plant size, projected new development plant size, or existing plant operations data was used to develop a reference plant for this study.
This report presents an independent assessment of the cost and performance of select fossil energy power systems—pulverized coal (PC), circulating fluidized bed (CFB), and natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) plants—using a systematic, transparent technical and economic approach. This is Volume 3 of a five-volume series, which comprise the following reports: Volume 1: Bituminous Coal and Natural Gas to Electricity; Volume 2: Coal to Synthetic Natural Gas and Ammonia (Various Coal Ranks); Volume 3: Low Rank Coal and Natural Gas to Electricity; Volume 4: Bituminous Coal to Liquid Fuels; and Volume 5: Natural Gas Electricity Generating Units for Flexible Operation. The cost and performance of fossil fuel-based generation technologies represented in this report (and the series at large) are important inputs to assessments and determinations of technology combinations to be utilized to meet the projected demands of future power markets. In addition to informing technology comparisons, the reference plant configurations found in this report provide perspective for regulators and policy makers. From a research and development perspective, this report is used to assess goals and metrics and to provide a consistent basis for comparing developing technologies.
This presentation was given on behalf of NETL's Strategic Systems Analysis and Engineering Directorate, Energy Process Analysis Team at a United States Energy Association webinar on January 24, 2023. The presentation summarizes techno economic analysis results of nine industrial CO2 capture cases, and also gave an overview and brief demonstration of the industrial sources Carbon Capture Retrofit Database, which is a publicly available tool that estimates capture costs for a subset of the industrial sources appearing in the companion systems analysis report.