Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
9/25/2015
Three new carbon capture processes are due to begin testing at Norway’s Technology Center Mongstad (TCM), according to a new release by Clean Carbon Solutions Ltd. (CCSL), a capture solvent developer and one of TCM’s new vendors. The other two vendors, Alstom and General Electric, are receiving funding through the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory. In addition, the University of Kentucky might also test new technology at TCM, though this is yet to be decided.
CCSL will test its solvent technology, which the company bills as capable of removing up to 50 percent of the CO2 from flue gas while reducing the size of needed equipment and energy demand. “Tests to date have shown CCSL’s technology to have significantly improved energy efficiency and reduced solvent loss and degradation than its competitors, minimising overall operating costs. The company is now demonstrating its technology at TCM to generate long-term testing data at full-scale carbon capture,” according to the release.
In addition, with the support of $922,709 in DOE funding, Alstom will conduct a three-year large-scale pilot-plant program at TCM with the aim of “improving the attractiveness and lowering the overall cost of Alstom’s chilled ammonia process (CAP) CO2 capture technology,” according to an NETL release.
DOE will also provide $982,040 to General Electric for validation testing of the company’s amino-silicone CO2 capture system at TCM. “A successful test will achieve two important results: (1) a closed heat and material balance that will validate performance claims, and (2) sustained operation and performance that will de-risk the technology. A validated amino-silicone system will represent a value proposition relative to aqueous amines in certain applications and enable commercial deployments on a short time frame,” the NETL press release says.
“TCM has been playing a vital role in the development of CCS technologies since 2012, helping companies like Aker, Alstom and Shell Cansolv to test and reduce the costs and risks of scaling-up carbon capture. These … new test campaigns represent a new milestone in the commercialisation of this vital climate technology,” Roy Vardheim, TCM managing director, said in the CCSL release.
