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CO2 Solution announces results of enzyme based capture
Capture, June 24 2010 (Carbon Capture Journal)
- CO2 Solution says it has achieved 'significant technical results' towards validating the impact of its enzymatic process on reducing the cost of carbon capture at commercial scale.
CO2 Solution in conjunction with its consultant, Procede Group B.V., has conducted lab scale testing and process modelling which it says has demonstrated the potential to reduce the size of CO2 absorber columns at coal-fired power plants by more than 90% when the enzymatic technology was used with MDEA, as opposed to pure MDEA.
MDEA is a widely used solvent for natural gas treating, but is generally regarded as too kinetically limited for CO2 capture from power plant flue gas and other low-pressure gas effluent streams. By employing the enzyme, the rate of CO2 absorption in MDEA was increased more than 10 fold, reducing the height of the modelled CO2 absorption column from more than 200 meters to approximately 20 meters. Relatively small quantities of the enzyme catalyst are necessary to achieve the desired rate increase.
Additionally, by taking advantage of the low-energy properties of MDEA, solvent regeneration and process energy consumption is predicted to be reduced by approximately 30% compared to the current industry standard monethanolamine (MEA) process.
These results point to a significant reduction in capital and operating costs of commercial scale carbon capture at typical coal-fired power plants or other large emitters, while using a widely available commercial solvent. The use of the enzyme also holds a distinct advantage in that its use is energy-neutral to the process, as opposed to chemical CO2 absorption promoters, such as piperazine or primary amines, which increase the energy required for subsequent CO2 stripping.
CO2 Solution is developing this technology in collaboration with Codexis. The process is expected to benefit further from low cost carbonic anhydrases developed by Codexis which provide for enhanced stability and catalytic activity in industrial carbon capture solvents at the elevated temperatures typical of commercial operations.
The lab testing and process simulation work was carried out by Procede Group, led by Dr. Geert Versteeg.
"What we see with CO2 Solution's technology is a breakthrough for the economic capture of carbon dioxide at large scale," said Dr. Versteeg. "This is because the enzyme is an extremely efficient catalyst that enables the use of MDEA and other low-energy solvents for flue gas applications, something that was economically unattainable to date because of the low reactivity of these solvents."
"This technology has the potential to transform how the industry looks at solvent-based systems for carbon capture and storage from power plants and other large sources of CO2 emissions."
