Techno-Economic Analysis of Cryogenic Carbon Capture for Cement Decarbonisation

The increasing concern over climate change due to global warming has intensified efforts to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, with a particular emphasis on carbon removal technologies, including carbon capture. While much of the current research and applications focus on well-established methods, such as solvent-based capture, cryogenic CO2 separation techniques present several advantages. These include the ability to operate solely on electricity, ideally supplied by renewables, along with high capture rates and CO2 purity. This study assesses a cryogenic carbon capture process for separating the CO2 from the flue gases of a coal-fired cement plant. The process is investigated from a techno-economic standpoint by evaluating the capital and operative costs, and by calculating its key performance indicators. Simulation results estimate an energy penalty of 1.14 MJel/kgCO2 and a CO2 avoidance cost of 118.2 €/tCO2, which would make cryogenic capture less energy-intensive and potentially more cost-effective than conventional solvent-based methods.