Calcium based CO2 capture by pressure swing combined with heat storage materials

Carbon dioxide capture is a promising way to mitigate the global warming. How to develop CO2 capture technologies with a low efficiency penalty is a key issue. This Villum Experiment proposal will test a new idea of using calcination/carbonation cycle of calcium based sorbents by pressure swing to separate CO2 in the flue gas from high temperature processes in connection to combustion and gasification. The CO2 in the flue gas will be fixed in form of CaCO3 by carbonation at a high pressure and released to pure CO2 by calcination in vacuum. The feasibility of application of heat storage materials to the process, to keep the temperature as close as possible in the highly endothermal/exothermal shift of calcination and carbonation, will also be explored. Thus, little energy is required in the CO2 capture process, i.e. much lower efficiency penalty. Experiments and process simulations will be carried out for optimization of the process. It is expected that this project will result in a new method to facilitate CO2 capture from centralized source, such as power plants, cement plants, as well as from small scale combustion units, with low efficiency penalty.