Abstract: Capturing CO2 from flue gas using monoethanolamine (MEA) absorption is a relatively mature technology at present. However, the existing problems, such as the high energy consumption in regeneration, hinder its largescale application in coalfired power plant. Thus, it is necessary to optimize the CO2 removal process flow to lower CO2 capture cost. Taking the CO2 removal system of a 430MW unit as research object, using ASPEN PLUS simulation software, the flue gas CO2 removal process with the MEA absorption in coalfired power plant was simulated. The CO2 removal process flow and some important parameters, such as the CO2 loading of lean solution, the pressure of the regeneration tower, the inlet temperature of the regeneration tower and the CO2 captured rate, were optimized. The simulation result shows that rational optimization can decrease the energy consumption and the material consumption in regeneration and then reduce the CO2 removal cost. The comparison of the simulation results with the results of published literatures shows that the result data of the CO2 removal system obtained by ASPEN PLUS simulation were exact and reliable. 

Key words: mono-ethanolamine (MEA), CO2 removal system, ASPEN PLUS, process flow optimization