HYCAPS- HYBRID CAPTURE SOLUTION
Operating since 2003, CO2CRC is a world leader in carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) research. CO2CRC works with national and international discipline leaders, manages interdisciplinary and inter-institutional research projects, has well-established, decade-long relationships, strong international brand recognition, and an outstanding health and safety record. CO2CRC develops and trials next generation low-emission technologies in commercially relevant, first-of-a-kind demonstrations.
CO2CRC Ltd., along with it’s technical consulting and advisory arm, CO2Tech, and in collaboration with its research partners in Australia, has developed a hybrid CO2 capture technology, HyCaps.
HyCaps combines solvent absorption and membrane separation in a single process, which exploits the advantages of both technologies to achieve efficient carbon capture. The HyCaps process has proven its ability to be highly efficient at carbon capture with reduced energy requirements.
HyCaps is modular and scalable, and its footprint is substantially lower than the conventional amine solvent process for CO2 absorption, making it suitable for retrofitting existing plants, thereby promoting faster implementation of carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS).
Above: HyCaps was a Top 8 Finalist selected from 1200 entries across the world in The Liveability Challenge, and won SGD$100,000 grant from Enterprise Singapore.
HYBRID CARBON CAPTURE BENEFITS
HyCaps is a hybrid technology that combines solvent absorption technology with membrane technology. This provides numerous benefits over conventional solvent absorption technology.
- HyCaps modules provide a very high surface area within a given volume; thus, the equipment size and footprint can be reduced. HyCaps module has an interfacial area of 2700 to 4000 m2/m3 compared to 250-700 m2/m3 for the conventional packed columns with structural packings; providing up to >10x more in specific surface area compared to conventional packed column.
- In the HyCaps, the membrane separates the gas and liquid phases. As gas is not in direct contact with the solvent, the chemical degradation of the solvent due to the impurities in the gas is potentially lower than in conventional packed columns, where gas and liquid phases are in intimate contact.
- Membrane’s configuration flexibility and modular nature enable the capture process to be easily accommodated and retrofitted in limited site space.
- HyCaps enables separate and independent control of liquid and gas phase flow. This functionality helps to eliminate or reduce operational issues, such as foaming, liquid channelling, and liquid entrainment faced in conventional solvent absorption columns.
- The HyCaps process operates at a lower temperature than the conventional packed bed absorption and does not require solvent boiling for solvent regeneration. Thus, it reduces the energy requirement and thermal degradation of the solvent.
| TRL | 6/7 | Capture Rate Range (tpd) | 50-500 TPD (depending on CO2 % in the gas) | Modular (Y/N) | Yes |
| Source CO2 Purity Range | >3.5% | Energy Consumption (GJ/tCO2) | depends on CO2 % in the gas | Capture Efficiency (%) | >90% |
| Number of Commercial Plants | ~ | Number of Pilot Plants | Five | CO2 purity | >94% |
| Target Industries | Power, industry, oil and gas, hard-to-abate sectors and other post-combustion CO2 emissions including small footprint operations (onboard shipping, remote/offshore platform, etc.) | ||||
HYCAPS TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION
HyCaps is a hybrid technology that combines mature solvent technology with membrane technology to overcome inherent limitations while retaining or enhancing their advantages – as shown in Figure 1 below.
A typical flowsheet of the HyCaps process is similar to that of conventional solvent CO2 capture systems, but the HyCaps module replaces the conventional packed columns for absorption and solvent regeneration. The process involves the transfer of CO2 from the gas mix through a hollow-fiber membrane, where it is chemically absorbed into a solvent. In solvent regeneration with HyCaps, the physical separation of the solvent and gas phases by the membrane enables CO2 to be drawn from the enriched solvent phase into the gas phase. This enables solvent regeneration to be achieved at temperatures lower than conventional packed columns, and the solvent regeneration can be achieved without boiling of the solvent. Hence, in HyCaps CO2 capture, there is no reboiler in the regeneration section of the process. By avoiding solvent boiling, the HyCaps process significantly reduces the energy demand for solvent regeneration.
Figure 1
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
CO2CRC Ltd and its research partners have successfully demonstrated the potential of HyCaps technology for both post-combustion and pre-combustion carbon capture scenarios in the Australian industry. This novel technology represents over a decade of laboratory research and was successfully tested in various pilot plant industrial trials. CO2CRC has been developing novel technologies to reduce the cost of CO2 capture. The compact design of HyCaps is illustrated in Figure 2, which displays the demonstration test skid of HyCaps alongside skids for solvent and adsorbent technologies used for CO2 capture. The novel adsorbent developed by CO2CRC offers improved capacity and selectivity for removing CO2 from high-pressure gas. In HyCaps process, the solvent regeneration operating temperature ranged between 90 to 102 °C, well below the solvent vaporisation temperature of 105 °C. Hence, the pilot plant proved that carbon capture and solvent regeneration could occur without a bulk solvent phase change.
To ensure rapid scale-up of HyCaps technology, the membrane-based HyCaps modules chosen were based on commercially available membranes originally developed for other gas separation applications. Therefore, the technology can be rapidly scaled up and adopted by industry and expanded without the need for membrane material development or the construction of sophisticated membrane fabrication facilities, reducing time to commercialisation. It is also important to note that ongoing developments on advance solvent or/and advance membrane systems can be transferred seamlessly to the HyCaps module to make HyCaps a more advance system – a further benefit of the system that will ensure its future relevance to the industry.
Figure 2- Demonstration of CO2CRC’s HyCaps process, the figure also shows CO2CRC’s demonstration skids of solvent absorption and adsorption technologies for CO2 capture.
COST EFFECTIVE TECHNOLOGY
Initial techno-economic analysis done for the CO2 capture with 18% CO2 in the flue gas indicates the cost-effectiveness of HyCaps technology. HyCaps modules have greater surface area per volume as compared to the conventional packed columns. As a result, HyCaps modules have a reduced overall equipment dimension. The reduction in equipment size couple with HyCaps design with less auxiliary supporting equipment is also a factor in HyCaps’
reduced CAPEX. Avoiding solvent boiling and lower operating temperature results in low energy demand for regeneration, and the low-quality heat/waste heat from the plant can be utilised within the system,making the whole regeneration a low OPEX process. Compared to the conventional solvent process, the solvent regeneration energy requirement of HyCaps is about 25-45% lower.
HyCaps requires low-quality steam for regeneration, potentially reducing energy costs further. Overall, there can be 30-60% reduction in OPEX and 15-40% reduction in cost of abatement as compared to conventional packed column solvent technology.
The Hybrid HyCaps is a new approach to carbon capture technology that offers clear advantages in terms of energy requirement and footprint compared to traditional methods. This technology has been demonstrated at three different industrial pilot plants in Australia. It has proven to be deployment-ready to effectively address carbon emissions from industrial sources, including the hard-to-abate sector. HyCaps is a modular, compact, and scalable solution that can be applied to both post-combustion and pre-combustion CO2 capture processes. Due to its compact design, flexible orientation, and easy installation, HyCaps is suitable for any industry with limited space, including mobile process platforms such as FPSO and ship-based processes.
NEXT STEPS
HyCaps has achieved a technology readiness level (TRL) 6 with successful pilot demonstrations in different industrial environments.
HyCaps is a cost competitive CO2 capture technology and is ready for scale up and large-scale demonstration.
As a next step, CO2CRC is working on a scaled-up design for the equipment and is looking for potential funding and collaboration opportunities to test and showcase HyCaps technology in different industrial applications and environmental conditions.
This is an exciting investment opportunity for the right company to partner with CO2Tech, as we accelerate toward emissions reduction in the critical industries sector.
Email KS Chan,
Chief Commercialisation Officer,
and partner with us today.
Figure 3
Contact us
CO2tech
L3/289 Wellington Parade South, East Melbourne. Victoria 3002, Australia