NETL to fund phase-I of CO2 capture technology of GE

Niskayuna team with bench scale CO2 system

National Energy Technology Laboratories (NETL) under US Department of Energy is funding development of a carbon dioxide capture technology.

A team of researchers at the Oil & Gas Technology Center of General Electric in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, have received the $1 million grant from NETL as Phase I funding to plan and propose large-scale pilot testing of its CO2 Capture technology solution.

The GE scientists have found that a class of amino silicone compounds is able to capture carbon at various temperatures. These compounds are used in hair conditioners and fabric softeners as softening agents. And the technology has been found effective in laboratory conditions.

The GE scientists have stated that they are using the chemicals to wash out carbon dioxide from a power plant flue stack.

According to the researchers, the amino silicone materials attach to carbon dioxide when heated to about 105 degrees Fahrenheit. They released the captured carbon when heated further by another 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the captured carbon is released the amino silicone compounds can be reused.

These properties and the key advantage that the technology does not involve water make it a promising proposition.

The GE team will now be testing the carbon dioxide capture solution at the CO2 Technology Center at Mongstad (TCM), Norway, the world’s largest industrial-scale test facility.

Researchers will use the Phase 1 funding to advance planning of the technology for large scale pilot testing. Two of the six phase 1 projects will be selected for Phase 2.

Construction and execution of Phase 2 of pilot testing is expected to happen by mid-2016.

Ajith Kumar S

[email protected]