Carbon capture demonstration campaign at SINTEF

HS-3, a novel low-energy amine solvent for post-combustion CO₂ capture, shows promising results at SINTEF’s pilot plant.

SINTEF’s Tiller CO₂Lab in Trondheim, Norway, is a pilot scale facility for testing solvent-based technologies for post-combustion CO₂ capture. As part of the REALISE CCUS project, the facilities were modified to include a compact CO₂ compression and liquefaction unit (CCLU). This addition makes the CO₂Lab a unique facility as it enables testing of all the steps involved in post-combustion solvent-based capture technology — from flue gas generation and pre-treatment to compression and liquefaction of the produced CO₂ for transport by ship. 

During a 12-week campaign, SINTEF researchers measured the emissions and quality of the produced CO₂ when using HS-3, a novel low-energy amine solvent for CO₂ capture developed by SINTEF and NTNU in an earlier EU project¹, at different process conditions. Energy consumption and solvent stability were also assessed.

Tests with CO₂ capture rates between 80 and 98% showed that it is possible to remove 98% of CO₂ from flue gases with CO₂ concentrations typically found in the oil refinery industry.

To mimic the composition of partly reclaimed solvent from a refinery and test the effect of impurities from different flue gases on the solvent’s performance and stability, 20 litres of solvent from the previous demonstration campaign at Irving Oil Whitegate refinery in Ireland² were mixed in to the solvent at Tiller 5 weeks after starting the campaign.  

The data created during this campaign have been used to validate model-based control systems developed by project partner Cybernetica to optimise process performance.

The results from the demonstration campaign will be presented at the Post Combustion Capture Conference (PCCC-7) which will take place in Pittsburgh, PA, in September.

Thor Mejdell, SINTEF Senior Scientist comments on the latest results: 

 "The solvent was robust and easy to use, no operational issues were observed when the pilot plant was running 91% of the time. Independent measurements of CO₂ transfer at four different sampling points were consistent, deviating on average only 1.5%.

Moreover, the solvent degradation rate was nearly constant during the entire campaign and the metal concentration in the solvent was low, indicating that it does not cause corrosion. 

Although emissions level from the capture plant are similar to other known solvents, further development and demonstration of solvent management technologies may be necessary to further reduce emissions". 

1-      HiPerCap – High Performance Capture https://www.sintef.no/projectweb/hipercap/

2-      D2.3 HS-3 campaign at the Irving Oil Whitegate refinery https://realiseccus.eu/file/303/download?token=rcapWLHK

Image: 

Kai Hjarbo (SINTEF) testing CO₂ compression and liquefaction unit at the Tiller CO₂Lab.

Courtesy of SINTEF