Carbon dioxide capture test completes initial phase

A demonstration test for capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide (CO₂) from coal-fired power plant emissions has completed an initial demonstration phase. The test is being conducted jointly by Mitisubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Southern Company Services (SCS), in Alabama, US.

The success of the initial demonstration phase means that a large-scale capture system for CO₂ recovered from coal-fired power plants, which typically emit flue gas containing impurities, is now feasible. Based on this success, MHI now plans to speed up its programme seeking to achieve commercially viable technology for recovering CO₂ from coal-fired plants.

CO₂ recovery
The demonstration test is an important part of a project focused on achieving recovery of CO₂ from coal-fired power plant emissions on a globally unprecedented scale of 500 metric tpd (mtpd). To conduct the test, a demonstration plant for separating and recovering CO₂ was constructed at an SCS affiliate’s coal-fired power plant in Alabama.

The test got began in June 2011. After verifying the technology for recovering CO₂ from the coal-fired plant flue gas, as well as recovery performance, integrated capture and sequestration demonstration testing began in August 2012. High-performance continuous and stable operation of the large-scale CO₂ recovery plant was confirmed.

MHI has served as the CO₂ recovery process licensor responsible for basic planning and engineering, supply of the CO₂ compressors and other core machinery, and technical support during the demonstration test.

Demonstration plant
The CO₂ capture demonstration plant that supplied the CO₂ under this project was built jointly by MHI and SCS and is the world's largest in scale. The plant consists of:

• A flue-gas scrubber;
• Flue-gas CO₂ capture/re-generation system;
• CO₂ compression machinery;
• Electrical components.

It has capacity to recover 150 000 metric tpa of CO₂, with recovery efficiency above 90%. For CO₂ recovery the facility adopts the KM CDR Process®, which uses a proprietary KS-1 high-performance solvent for CO₂ absorption and desorption that was jointly developed by MHI and the Kansai Electric Power Company. Compared with other CO₂ capture technologies, the KM CDR Process uses significantly less energy.

With the performance of the initial demonstration phase complete, SCS and MHI are currently in discussions concerning the performance of additional demonstration phases and activities utilizing the plant.

Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/handling/15012014/successful_test_of_co2_capture_403/