New carbon capture technology granted funding for further development

THE Gas Technology Institute (GTI) and Carbon CCS-US, the US subsidiary of Carbon Clean Solutions Limited (CCSL), have received US$2.9m in funding to test a prototype that could make carbon capture more cost-effective.

The funding was awarded by the US Department of Energy (DoE) Office of Fossil Energy for a 30-month project to test the feasibility of the new technology, known as ROTA-CAP.

ROTA-CAP uses rotating packed bed (RPB) absorbers and regenerators, unlike conventional carbon capture technology which uses stationary columns. The rotating disc of packing material generates a high gravity centrifugal force which distributes the solvent towards the outer edges of the disc. This provides a higher surface area for mass transfer to occur between the flue gas and the solvent. The project will use CCSL proprietary solvent which can achieve higher CO₂ loadings than conventional solvents.

The skid will also include a conventional column absorber and regenerator along with a conventional solvent to fully evaluate the performance of the new method.

The highly concentrated solvent leads to greater process efficiency and decreases the solvent top-up requirements by around 77%. The new technology reduces the sizing requirements of heat exchangers, pumps, and coolers by up to 50% and the RPB equipment has a 90% volume reduction compared to a conventional static column. By reducing the size, the cost is also reduced.

GTI and CCS-US aim to reduce the cost of carbon capture with their technology to US$30/t of CO₂ by 2030, in line with the DoE’s carbon capture cost targets. The current cost of carbon capture estimated by the DoE is US$60/t of CO₂. The DoE has a target of US$40/t for second-generation technologies which will be ready for demonstration between 2020 and 2025. Third-generation technologies, targeted for demonstration between 2030 and 2035, should have a cost of US$30/t or less.

GTI and CCS-US will design, construct, and test the RPB absorber and regenerator with a simulated flue gas at GTI’s Des Plaines facility in Illinois. The bench-scale skid will then be transported to the National Carbon Capture Centre in Alabama for long-term testing with coal-fired flue gas. This phase will include a 1,000-hour stability test at a rate of 1 t/d of CO₂ capture and testing is due to be complete in 2021.

Will Shimer, General Manager of CCS-US, said: "This is an exciting project that promises to further reduce the cost of carbon capture, and the most important feature is that it will be scalable. ROTA-CAP technology could provide a major reduction in both capex and equipment size, enabling wider-scale commercial deployment of carbon capture systems globally."

Osman Akpolat, GTI Technology Manager, said: "This technology aligns well with the [DoE’s Carbon Capture] Program's focus on maximising the efficiency of the current US fossil-based power generation infrastructure and dramatically reducing the cost of carbon capture technology to facilitate commercial implementation.”