Investigating different scenarios of integrating solar-assisted carbon capture with combined cycle power plant and water desalination system

In this work, an optimal algorithm-based integration of solar thermal energy with carbon capture and desalination processes were proposed. The stripper columns, identified as the most energy-consuming equipment, were designed with constant capacities to ensure practicality and applicability. Results show that, without affecting the power plant's efficiency, using a solvent tank as an energy storage system (scenario-2) increases total CO2 capture from 45 % to 98 % compared to a part-time solar power system (scenario-1). Utilizing two solvent tanks reduces waste energy from 87 % to 67 % (scenario-3), while achieving 100 % CO2 capture. Using three different stripper columns (scenario-4) lowers the levelized cost of energy by 20 %. Incorporating an additional multiple effect distillation system (scenario-5) reduces levelized cost of energy and energy loss by 26 % and 74 %, respectively. Approximately 28 % of the total solar energy collected (4.64 × 106 MWh) was used to capture 1.57 × 106 ton.year−1 of CO2. The remaining energy was used in desalination to produce 9.4 × 106 m³.year−1 of fresh water, increasing overall energy efficiency from 28 % to 81 %, and reducing waste energy to 0.88 × 106 MWh, just 26 % of previous scenarios' waste.