Techno-economic analysis on a hybrid system with carbon capture and energy storage for liquefied natural gas cold energy utilization

For cold energy utilization in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification process, integrated cryogenic CO2 capture using high-grade cold energy is a mainstream method. However, high-grade cold energy for carbon capture may lead to a decrease in cold energy utilization efficiency. This paper aims to propose a hybrid system in which high-grade cold energy is used for liquid air energy storage (LAES) and post-combustion amine scrubbing technology is considered to replace cryogenic carbon capture for improved working efficiency. The medium and low-grade cold energy is utilized for similar working processes, e.g., organic Rankine cycle (ORC), carbon dioxide liquefaction, and data center cooling for comparison. Results show that the proposed hybrid system can produce 437.7 MW of power, 28.8 t·h−1 of CO2 capture capacity, and 23.0 MW of cooling capacity, respectively. The levelized cost of electricity and the annual revenue are 112.3 $·MWh−1 and 2.17 million $, respectively. LNG cold energy utilization efficiency, system energy efficiency, and cold exergy efficiency are 53.4 %, 24.0 %, and 51.5 %, higher than similar processes using cryogenic CO2 capture. It is demonstrated that the proposed system could be a promising method for cold energy utilization and post-combustion capture.