New powerful reactor sucks CO2 from factory smoke without using extra heat
The world is racing to curb emissions of planet-heating carbon dioxide (CO2). Industrial plants are among the numerous sources contributing to emissions.
In recent years, carbon capture technology has been hailed as a potential solution. This has led to the development of various carbon capture technologies, but their development is often criticized for being time-consuming, land-intensive, and costly.
Now, researchers from the Norway-based research company Stiftelsen for industriell og teknisk forskning (SINTEF) have designed a simpler carbon capture technology called a Continuous Swing Adsorption Reactor (CSAR).
This technology utilizes a heat pump and a vacuum pump to capture CO2 from industrial flue gases efficiently.
Flue gas is generated when fuels like natural gas, coal, and oil are burned in furnaces, boilers, and industrial plants. In addition to CO2, flue gas contains nitrogen and water vapor.
Notably, this pilot reactor can capture 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of CO2 each day.
Energy-efficient tech
The CSAR technology is energy-efficient, especially when powered by renewable electricity. It requires only a single electricity source for its pumps, making it suitable for installation in existing plants.
This technology uses two reactors to capture CO2. In the first reactor, a sorbent material binds to the CO2, trapping it.
The process involves a temperature swing: the CO2 is captured at a low temperature, releasing heat. The transferred heat raises the temperature of the second reactor, causing the sorbent to release the captured CO2.
A heat pump and a vacuum pump facilitate this efficient heat transfer and CO2 release.
"The combined action of the two pumps makes the transfer of heat very efficient, and is also the reason for the low levels of energy consumption involved in this technology," said Jan Hendrik Cloete, a Research Scientist at SINTEF.
"Our studies have shown that the CSAR technology competes very well with technologies that utilize heat. This applies in particular if reasonably-priced electricity from renewable sources is available," added Cloete.
shows promise in testing
SINTEF and Norwegian company Caox collaborated to showcase the CSAR technology at the BIR AS waste management plant near Bergen, Norway.
Annually, BIR processes approximately 220,000 tons of household waste to generate electricity and district heat. However, this waste-to-energy process releases 250,000 tons of CO2.
In the test, the pilot reactor captured CO2 from real-world flue gases, proving the technology's viability on an industrial scale.
"After 100 hours of operation, we found that we were able to capture the same amount of CO2 from real exhaust gases as we had in our laboratory tests," said Cloete.
"This was an important step because it confirmed that the CSAR concept also works at an industrial scale. It also helped to boost confidence in our economic estimates," he added in the press release.
BIR plant aims to capture 100,000 tons of CO2 annually by 2030 using existing technologies. They are also exploring the use of newer technologies like CSAR for additional CO2 capture.
After the initial testing, the pilot reactor is being upgraded at SINTEF's lab in Tiller.
This technology holds the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from various industries, including cement production, steel manufacturing, and power generation.
After the upgrade, the team plans to install the pilot reactor in a cement factory located in Spain.
