Project description
Advanced, low-cost carbon capture technology could trap all emissions almost entirely
Solvent-based carbon capture uses high-quality solvents to capture gases before entering the atmosphere. These solvents rely on chemical absorption, a type of technology leveraging carbon dioxide interactions with solvents that form bonds with this gas. The EU-funded AURORA project will seek to optimise open and non-proprietary CESAR1 solvent technology, boosting its commercial deployment. Researchers will bring the technology to TRL 7-8 for three carbon-intensive industries: refining, cement and material recycling. The technology could help achieve 98 % carbon capture rates and reduce carbon capture costs by 47 %.
Objective
Rapid up-scaling and deployment of more cost-efficient and sustainable carbon capture solutions is needed to reduce the emissions of CO2-intensive industries. Solvent-based carbon capture is an important technology that can be readily adopted to many emission sources. Such technology can achieve high capture rates and deliver CO2 at high purity with a relatively low energy demand. In AURORA the open and non-proprietary CESAR1 solvent technology will be optimised and qualified for commercial deployment. The technology will be demonstrated at TRL7-8 for three CO2 intensive industries: refining, cement, and materials recycling, for which there are few other options to achieve climate neutrality. The partners will demonstrate negligible environmental impact (emissions being a potential issue for solvent technology), capture rates at 98%, and capture costs reduced by at least 47% compared to a benchmark process with the MEA solvent. This will be achieved due to the following innovations: 1) Holistic optimisation of solvent composition, process design, emission monitoring and control, and solvent management, 2) Validated models for use in commercial process simulators 3) enhanced waste heat integration with carbon capture for reduced external heat demand and operational costs 4) Improved and integrated advanced control system for reduced OPEX and optimised performances. These innovations will be integrated in four optimised capture processes and various aspects will be demonstrated in pilots of various size and complexity. The partners will ensure transferability of results to other CO2 intensive industries thanks to the large variations in CO2 source and developed clusters addressed in the project and a strong stakeholder participation. The project will also do full CCUS chain assessments for its end-users. It is noteworthy that the end-users are situated in two different regions of Europe offering different conditions for the implementation of CCUS value chains.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwaste managementwaste treatment processesrecycling
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringcontrol systems
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringcarbon capture engineering
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-IA - HORIZON Innovation ActionsCoordinator
7034 Trondheim
Norway