Emission of greenhouse gases, and CO2 in particular, increases the Earth's average temperature, contributing to climate change. A growing concern has arisen in recent years regarding high CO2-emitting industries such as cement and refining. Additionally, particular attention should be paid to CO2 emissions from material recycling processes, as this is a rapidly expanding market within the circular economy. For these industries, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a way of reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. However, solvent-based CO2 capture technology must be improved, mainly to reduce costs and widen its usage throughout various industries. The AURORA project aims to bring a CO2 capture technology based on the so-called CESAR1 solvent to commercial deployment. This requires further solvent optimisation and qualification. The project also addresses optimisations on the carbon capture process and operation, targeting significant cost reductions. Furthermore, new digital solutions for advanced model-based process control and optimisation will improve the solvent-based CO2 capture process.
All refinements will be validated and demonstrated at three different sites. A test campaign will be first launched at the Tiller pilot plant located at the SINTEF CO2LAB in Trondheim, Norway. The TCM plant in Norway will then be used to evaluate performance and demonstrate the advantages of the AURORA technology for large-scale industrial projects. The AURORA technology will even be demonstrated at the site of two of the plant owners in AURORA using a mobile unit owned by Aker Carbon Capture.
Finally, without limiting itself to carbon capture, AURORA will carry out studies on using and storing the captured carbon. Overall, the AURORA technology is expected to increase cost-efficiency by 50% and CO2 capture rates from 90 to 98%. Reaching such targets will boost the technology uptake by concerned industries for a global reduction of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
