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CO2CATCH-UP PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS

The new aspects of the CO2capture application to IGCCs have forced Nuon to take steps

towards better understanding the nuances of the technology and to mitigate technical risks byfirst studying the concept in a pilot project called CO2Catch!up"# $s such% the &uggenum plant

is a perfect location# The pilot is a simplified% smaller version of the CO2capture unit planned forthe Nuon 'agnum IGCC unit at (emshaven% designed to treat )#* per cent of the syngasproduced by the main power plant and to capture appro+imately ,) kt per annum of CO2#

The overall project objective is to generate knowledge and tools in order to better design Nuon

'agnum and future IGCC plants with CO2capture% with a strong focus on efficiency

improvement# $part from the improved design process% the pilot plant will allow for operatortraining and evaluating operating procedures and strategies# It will also help to predict the

maintenance re-uirements of future full!scale plants and help in preparation of a maintenance

approach#

$s there is no suitable reservoir in the vicinity of &uggenum% the CO2released from the solventis compressed and mi+ed together with the hydrogen!rich stream emerging from the top of the

absorber# It is then fed back to the .illem!$le+ander power plant to the syngas line and then to

the gas turbine#

$fter the pilot plant /see 0igure ,1 is commissioned in $ugust 2),)% a new phase of the projectstarts plant operation and research% which is foreseen to last ,* months# The research

programme is carried out by Nuon together with 3elft 4niversity of Technology /T4 3elft1%

(nergy 5esearch Centre of the Netherlands /(CN1 and 6('$#

0igure ,# 7isualisation of the newly built Nuon 'agnum

IGCC plant in (emshaven#

PROCESS DESCRIPTION

The plant consists of five sections syngas conditioning% water!gas shift% condensate recovery%CO2absorption and solvent regeneration% and CO2compression /see 0igure 21# The syngas slip!

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$lthough the reaction in theory is e-uimolar% an e+cess of water vapour is needed for forcinge-uilibrium to the right of the e-uation and preventing catalyst deactivation by limiting the

adiabatic temperature rise and hotspots# It also prevents coke formation% which catalyses a

0ischer!Tropsch reaction and reduces catalyst strength#

The water!gas shift reactor configuration is maintained as in the full!scale design with threereactors in series and a gas -uench after the first reactor# The reactors were designed for the same

inlet and outlet temperatures% 82OCO ratio and space velocity as the full!scale plant# They are

filled with an iron o+ide catalyst typical for high temperature shift#

Condensate recovery section In the condensate recovery section the shifted syngas is cooled

down to condense the e+cess water in a li-uids separator# The condensate is then recycled asreaction water to the syngas conditioning section#

CO2absorption and solvent regeneration The shifted syngas is subse-uently introduced to theCO2absorption and solvent regeneration section# 0irst% the shifted syngas is compressed in a

booster compressor to overcome the pressure drop over the upstream units bringing syngas back

to the initial pressure# Then the stream is cooled and fed to the CO 2absorber where in contact

with a physical solvent% i#e# dimethyl ether polyethylene glycol /3(:(G1% CO 2is removed%resulting in hydrogen;rich gas#

In the absorber design process% one needs to account for separation efficiency and hydrodynamic

behaviour /flooding% pressure drop1# The pilot plant is designed for the same number oftheoretical stages as the full!scale plant# 9ince the full!scale tower would be too large for thepilot% it was decided to use a finer packing to achieve the same separation efficiency and reduce

the height# The packing should also be suitable for the high li-uid loads typical for CO2

separation using 3(:(G#

CO2is recovered by depressuri

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resulting CO2product is mi+ed together with the hydrogen;rich gas from the top of the absorber

and fed back to the main syngas line of the .illem!$le+ander plant#

Instrumentation and analy