Porsgrunn, Norway: Statoil, a Norwegian oil and gas company, has unveiled a new carbon dioxide extraction system capable of bringing down the cost of capturing CO2 by up to 30 per cent.
3C Technology, which stands for Compact CO2 Capture was developed at the Porsgrunn Research Park in Skaen, southern Norway, over a period of three years.
Statoil will be demonstrating its new technology at the upcoming World Future Energy Summit next week in Abu Dhabi.
Patents for three applications of the system were made public yesterday, said Torbjorn Fiveland, Statoil's principle researcher process midstream/downstream, during a guided tour of the plant.
The equipment can be applied to big polluters such as coal power plants, cement factories or refineries to capture CO2 heavy exhaust fumes and extract the green house gas for underground storage, limiting emissions.
Currently, capture of carbon dioxide is performed on a large scale by absorption of carbon dioxide onto various amine-based solvents.
With 3C technology, exhaust fumes pass through a series of horizontal channels and are sprayed with amine, an organic compound. During the process the CO2 attaches itself to the amine droplets and is then passed through a stripper where heat is applied and the separated CO2 evaporates before being compressed back to liquid, ready for injection underground. The remaining amine is washed and passed through a loop system back to capture CO2 from incoming exhaust.
"The channels are cheaper than large towers which need a fan to push the [exhaust fumes] through. This system has enough energy to push the gas through at 10 metres per second without a fan," said Fiveland. "3C can strip more CO2 than traditional processes," he added. No process can extract 100 per cent of CO2 from emissions.
The Porsgrunn plant is home to several simulation technologies where all types of scenarios from subsea stations to extraction can be played out in safety.
Statoil experienced a small setback during the first test in front of media on Monday where the stripper temperature was being tested at 52 degrees Celsius. A small leak was detected in the amine tank.
"We are still in the commissioning stages," said Fiveland. "We should be able to conduct another test in a few days."
The pilot 3C system's stripper measures 6m in length and has a 2m diameter with an annual capacity of 1 million tons per year of CO2.
Statoil's annual research and development budget is $400 million per year.
