Cost-effective and modular CO₂ capture to support decarbonisation for oil and gas, industrial and hard-to-abate sectors

Abstract

Reducing emissions from the industrial and fossil fuel-based power sectors is crucial to achieving net zero emissions. These sectors contribute to ~60% of global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. However, there are several challenges that current CO₂ capture technology faces. The use of coal in steel and cement industries produces flue gases with high CO₂ content but also with nitrogen and sulfur oxides (NO_x and SO_x) as impurities. These impurities cause faster degradation of amine-based solvents in the current CO₂ capture system. Additionally, capturing CO₂ from flue gases from the hard-to-abate sector, such as steel plants, is complex as it is not easy to capture CO₂ from multiple sources and different CO₂ concentration flue gas streams. For cement and other kiln processes, limited availability of water/steam can add to the difficulty and cost of CO₂ capture. CO2CRC’s HyCaps process, an efficient and compact hybrid of solvent absorption and membrane technology, overcomes some of these challenges. It takes advantage of the capture efficiency of the solvent system, controlled flow regime and high surface-to-volume ratio of membrane technology. The mode of interaction between gas and liquid in HyCaps limits solvent exposure to NO_x and SO_x, reducing solvent degradation. In HyCaps, as solvent is regenerated at a lower temperature, low-quality, low-cost waste heat can be effectively utilised to reduce operational expenditure. Successful trials at three different industrial setups and preliminary techno-economic analysis from test trial data show the HyCaps process has the potential to offer very competitive capture solutions for various industrial settings.