Large scale economics of a precipitating potassium carbonate CO 2 capture process for black coal power generation

Potassium carbonate (K 2 CO 3 ) solvents offer a lower cost and environmentally benign alternative to the traditional amine‐based solvents for post‐combustion capture of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from power station flue gases. The CO2CRC is developing a precipitating K 2 CO 3 process, termed UNO MK 3, which has the potential for significant cost reductions. The costs have been calculated based on capturing 90% of the CO 2 emissions from a new build black coal (Illinois No. 6) power station with a net output of 550 MW. With the UNO MK 3 process for CO 2 capture, the cost of electricity is predicted to be as low as $73/MWh and the cost of capture as low as $21/tonne of CO 2 avoided. The cost of electricity with the UNO MK 3 process represents as low as a 24% increase in the cost of electricity, which meets the target set by the US Department of Energy for capture technologies of adding less than 35% to the cost of electricity.