Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
1/16/2015
Pilot-scale testing of a new carbon capture solvent, developed by The Linde Group and chemical company BASF, is now underway at the National Carbon Capture Center in Wilsonville, Ala., through a cooperative agreement with the National Energy Technology Laboratory. The testing is being done on a nominal 1-megawatt electric pilot plant and is expected to proceed with a capture rate of 30 tons of carbon dioxide per day, according to a Department of Energy release issued this week. The new technology combines an existing amine-based solvent developed by BASF and “novel CO2-capture process and engineering innovations being developed by Linde,” according to the release.
The testing is set to run for 18 months at the pilot plant. Parametric testing will evaluate the impact that several key parameters, such as flue gas flow rate and solvent circulation rate, will have on process performance criteria, such as the capture rate and outlet CO2 pressure. Once the pilot testing is complete, Linde and BASF will look to test the new solvent at a larger scale. The technology is anticipated to reach full-scale commercialization around 2025, according to the release.
The testing will utilize flue gas from Alabama Power’s Gaston power plant Unit 5, an 880 megawatt pulverized coal facility. “Successful testing will be a major step toward achieving the overall Energy Department goal of 90 percent CO2 capture with 95 percent CO2 purity at a cost of $40 per metric ton of CO2 captured,” the release says.
