Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
1/30/2015
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory announced this week the availability of a total of approximately $43 million in funding for lab- and bench-scale pre- and post-combustion carbon capture technologies. The funding includes $28 million for post-combustion carbon capture technology and $15 million for pre-combustion. “The overall technical goal of this FOA is to advance CO2 capture and separation systems beyond 2nd Generation economic performance predictions. Applications are sought for transformational technologies, which are defined as those that make progress towards meeting overall fossil energy performance goals of 90 [percent] CO2 capture rate with 95 [percent] CO2 purity at a cost of electricity 30 [percent] less than baseline capture approaches. Solutions proposed are expected to overcome limitations of singular, standard gas treatment systems, such as those based on solvents, sorbents or membranes alone. Hybrid systems, intensified processes and novel capture concepts are highly encouraged,” an NETL release states. The deadline for applications is March 9.
Technologies may be suited for pulverized-coal (PC) and Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plants. The FOA does not apply to oxy-combustion technologies. Of particular interest to NETL, the release says, are technologies that “intensify the overall process by consolidating two or more unit processes/unit operations,” combine existing capture approaches, improve the scalability of carbon capture, reduce parasitic load or are more efficient. The FOA also notes that pilot-scale technologies are not included in this opportunity.
Funding for individual lab-scale pre- and post- combustion technologies is limited to $2 million per project. Projects in this category must be ready to achieve a point at which active research and development has been initiated, including analytical and lab-scale studies. The project must also have successfully undergone proof-of-concept analytical studies and simulations showing a pathway towards the Office of Fossil Energy goals of a 90 percent CO2 capture rate with 95 percent CO2 purity at a cost of electricity 30 percent less than baseline. Further, projects must not have undergone lab-scale system design, construction, or parametric and steady-state testing on simulated flue gas or syngas.
Funding for bench-scale pre- and post- combustion technologies is also limited at $2 million per project. Technologies in this category must have “achieved a current Technology Readiness Level of 4 (i.e., reduced-scale component testing has been performed to the point that component(s) and/or system function has been validated),” the FOA says. Further, these technologies must have “successfully completed lab-scale development and testing using simulated flue gas or syngas with experimental results showing a pathway towards the aggressive Fossil Energy performance goals.” These technologies must not have undergone bench-scale system design, construction, or parametric and steady-state testing on actual coal-derived flue gas or syngas.
Cost-effective carbon capture, utilization and/or conversion solutions for low-concentration coal-relevant CO2 sources may also be funded at a level of up to $3 million per project, NETL said. According to the FOA, “technology proposed in this topic area may include, but is not limited to: coal-relevant lifecycle GHG emissions such as those from mining operations; approaches that are part of hybrid CO2 capture/utilization/conversion strategies; and CO2 ‘polishing’ steps that address the lower concentrations of residual CO2 resulting from less than 100 [percent] capture.”
