DrACO2 – Research on CO2 capture in waste incineration plants

Waste incineration plants (WIP) will remain important in the future, as the incineration of waste is mandatory in Germany for health protection reasons. In addition, the volume of waste is reduced and electricity and heat are generated. Waste incineration produces emissions such as CO₂, NO_x, SO₂, HCl, ash and heavy metals. Flue gas cleaning reduces all regulated emissions to the specified limit values of the 17th BImSchV. There are various approaches to reducing CO₂ emissions and making CO₂ available as a raw material with a view to a circular economy: Avoiding its formation during combustion, combustion with pure oxygen (oxyfuel) and post-combustion capture using, for example, aqueous amine solutions.

The project “Modeling and development of the decarbonization of a waste incineration plant by flue gas treatment with CO2 capture - DrACO₂” is funded by BMWK. It is being carried out at the ITV in cooperation with CUTEC at Clausthal University of Technology and the industrial partner Energy from Waste (EEW). CUTEC operates a pilot plant for waste incineration with corresponding flue gas cleaning, which has been expanded to include a plant for CO2 separation and on which pilot plant tests are being carried out. At the ITV, the interaction of flue gas cleaning and post-combustion CO2 capture is being researched using chemical-physical simulative methods. The aim is to investigate the effect of flue gas cleaning on post-combustion CO2 capture for waste incineration power plants. Special focus is placed on the influence of the remaining pollutant concentrations in the gas on the solvent. From this, specific requirements for the operation of flue gas cleaning with CO2 capture can be derived.