Review on post-combustion carbon capture technologies and capture of biogenic CO₂ using pilot-scale equipment

Bioenergy with carbon capture has emerged as a promising technological pathway in the pursuit of carbon-neutral energy production and industry. However, profitability of carbon capture remains as a large barrier in wide-scale deployment and as incentives are lacking benefit has to be sought, for instance, via CO₂ utilization. In this thesis biogenic CO₂ emission sources as well as status and performance of state-of-the-art and emerging post-combustion capture technologies were reviewed. Additionally, absorption-based post-combustion capture technologies developed by CarbonReUse, Kleener Power Solutions and VTT were experimented at pilot-scale by using synthetic gas mixtures, biogenic flue gases and raw biogas. Multiple industrial sources of biogenic CO₂ emissions into which carbon capture could possibly be applied were recognized. Numerous different carbon capture technologies based on various capture methods are currently in development with multiple large-scale demonstration projects ongoing and planned for the near future. Capture cost in post-combustion carbon capture is currently at around 34–80 €/t CO₂. In the pilot tests, all tested technologies were proven functional in carbon capture at realistic conditions, while achieving promising results regarding capture performance. However, further work is required to evaluate the economic performance and commercial potential of the tested technologies.