Post Combustion Carbon Capture for EU Refineries: Optimal Integration Strategies and Techno-Economic Performance

Report no. 15/26: This report presents a techno-economic feasibility study on the optimal integration of post-combustion carbon capture in two anonymised EU refineries representing a medium-conversion site and a more complex high-conversion site. The objective of the work was to identify technically feasible and economically robust capture configurations for refinery decarbonisation using mature solvent-based technology. A screening tool (two-stack model) was developed to evaluate optimal integration of multiple emission points and was applied to determine refinery-wide capture configurations. Rigorous process simulations and a techno-economic assessment were subsequently performed for the selected configurations.

The results show that, over the range of conditions studied, either flue gas integration or solvent integration is the preferred approach for combining multiple emission sources. Integration can reduce CAPEX by 10-20% compared with non-integrated systems, although the impact on total capture cost is more limited because energy costs remain the dominant cost driver. For both refinery case studies, capture costs are estimated at 175-176 €/tCO₂ avoided and 190-194 €/tCO₂ avoided respectively when excluding transport and storage costs. The study also compares natural gas boiler and heat pump-based heat supply strategies and finds that both provide similar overall capture costs under the base assumptions considered.

The analysis highlights the importance of energy prices, electricity carbon intensity and heat integration opportunities in determining capture costs. While a 95% capture rate is achieved, overall CO₂ avoidance is lower when indirect emissions from energy use and process venting are included. The study further shows that the technical and economic performance of carbon capture systems is highly site specific and influenced by factors such as plot space availability, utility integration opportunities, and access to CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure. Consequently, site-specific assessments remain essential when evaluating refinery carbon capture deployment.