CO₂ compression for capture-enabled power systems

The objective of this thesis is to evaluate a new carbon dioxide compression technology - shock compression - applied specifically to capture-enabled power plants. Global warming has increased public interest in carbon capture and sequestration technologies (CCS), but these technologies add significant capital and operating cost at present, which creates a significant barrier to adoption. Carbon dioxide compression technology makes up a high proportion of the additional cost required, making it a focal point for engineering efforts to improve the economic feasibility of carbon capture. To this effect, shock compressors have the potential to reduce both operating and capital costs with supporting compression ratios of up to 10:1, requiring less stages and theoretically allowing for the possibility of heat integration with the rest of the plant, allowing waste heat to be recovered from hot interstage compressed carbon dioxide. This thesis first presents a technical context for carbon dioxide compression by providing an overview of capture technologies to build an understanding of the different options being investigated for efficient removal of carbon dioxide from power plant emissions. It then examines conventional compression technologies, and how they have each evolved over time. Sample engineering calculations are performed to model gas streams processed by these conventional compressors. An analysis of shock compression is carried out by first building a background in compressible flow theory, and then using this as a foundation for understanding shock wave theory, especially oblique shocks. The shock compressor design is carefully analyzed using patent information, and a simulation of the physics of the shock compressor is created using equations from the theory section described earlier.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Chemical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Suri, Rajat

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Gregory J. McRae.

• Chemical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/46616

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/46616