An advanced solvent for post-combustion carbon capture developed through a partnership involving the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) and Honeywell is set for engineering-scale testing in October at the Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM), the world’s largest carbon capture test facility located in western Norway.

The new technology is an advanced solvent designed to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) found in flue gases generated from power, steel, cement and other industrial plants. The technology is the product of a multi-year cooperative agreement that was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management and managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).

Engineering-scale testing enables technology developers to understand the technical and performance risks of the technology and validate scaling factors that will enable design of future commercial-scale systems.

In the technology to be tested, CO2 is absorbed into an amine solvent and then sent to a stripper where it is separated from the solvent. This CO2 would then be compressed for geological sequestration or used for other purposes. The technology is designed to be retrofitted within existing plants or included as part of a new installation.

The engineering-scale testing of the solvent technology beginning in October builds upon successful pilot-scale testing performed at the National Carbon Capture Center in 2023 and at UT Austin’s Separations Research Program plant in 2022. That testing totaled approximately 7,000 hours.

The lessons learned through long-term field tests, along with complementary bench-scale studies on mitigating solvent oxidation, has led to a technology solution to capture 95% of a facility’s CO2 emissions while managing non-CO2 emissions and reducing operating costs and environmental impacts relative to state-of-the-art carbon capture approaches.

According to the International Energy Agency, carbon capture can contribute about 20% of reduction in CO2 emissions needed to prevent uncontrolled global warming and achieve zero emissions targets. Testing and validation of CO2 capture technologies is an important part of the solution to the climate crisis.

TCM is the world’s largest and most flexible test facility for developing CO2 capture technologies and a leading competence center for carbon capture. It features unique scale and flexibility to simulate real-world conditions for post-combustion capture.

Ismail Shah, TCM’s managing director, said "TCM is glad to welcome Honeywell to our amine facility. We are looking forward to testing and verifying Honeywell CO2 capture technology and efficiently achieving campaign objectives by offering TCM capabilities. Together we will support accelerating commercialization of Honeywell's technology."

Large-scale, real-world testing fills an important gap between small-scale pilot projects and full-scale deployment of technologies. The TCM facility provides the ability to test a wide range of technologies on industrial flue gases as well as access to a comprehensive data set that can be used for comparison with similar or other technologies.

Honeywell is an integrated operating company serving a broad range of industries around the world. The business is aligned with three megatrends – automation, the future of aviation and energy transition. As the energy transition technology leader, Honeywell UOP has a variety of carbon capture solutions tailored for individual customers in a wide range of industries and is currently surpassing all technology providers in the volume of CO2 capture capacity installed per annum.1

UT Austin collaborates with a diverse array of partners — including entrepreneurs, investors, technology incubators, and large enterprises — and generates more than 150 new technologies each year, providing abundant and varied opportunities for industry collaboration.

NETL is a DOE national laboratory that drives innovation and delivers solutions for an environmentally sustainable and prosperous energy future. By using its world-class talent and research facilities, NETL is ensuring affordable, abundant, and reliable energy that drives a robust economy and national security, while developing technologies to manage carbon across the full life cycle, enabling environmental sustainability for all Americans.

¹ Guidehouse Insights: Advanced Point-Source Carbon-Capture Solutions Provider Study