In order to determine the capital costs, an inventory of the
equipment items in the alternative acid gas removal systems was
compiled. The capital costs were then assessed by the procedures
illustrated in the Supplementary Material. The overall investment
cost ranges from 2.5 M€ for the 1S system to 4.7 M€ for the 2S system.
These figures are in line with the estimates of Achternbosch
and Richers (2002) and of Quicker et al. (2014) for similar air pollution
control lines.
Capital costs were translated in equivalent annual costs (EAC,
annualised cost of equipment), considering a discount rate of 5%
and a service time of 20 years (EPA, 2002).
The average values reported in Table 6 for operating costs were
obtained from the analysis of commercial, technical and literature.
Further details are provided in the Supplementary Material.