Carbon capture at the Maria Gléta 2 thermal power plant in Benin: Technical and economic aspects

Carbon capture, use and storage (CCS) technology, particularly post-combustion capture, has established itself as a key solution in strategies to reduce CO2 emissions from thermal power plants. The present work aims to study different combinations of solvents to identify the one which allows an efficient CO2 elimination process on the one hand and to carry out a technical and economic analysis of the entire process on the other hand on the Maria-Gléta 2 thermal power plant with a capacity of 127 MW in Benin. A model of the CO2 capture process was produced using Aspen Hysys version 11 software and simulated based on the weight combinations of the solvents mon ethanolamine (MEA) and methyl diethanolamine (MDEA). The investment and operating costs of the system were estimated. It appears that the mixture of 30% MEA and 10% MDEA is energetically and economically profitable. The results obtained in this work offer promising prospects for the energy industry in the fight against climate change.