Chemical Engineering September 2023 - 9

Commissioning completed for a carboncapture
pilot plant that uses a novel solvent
C
ommissioning is wrapping up
this month for a pilot facility
designed to validate the capabilities
of a new carbon-capture
solvent. The pilot plant was constructed
by Koch Modular Process Systems
(KMPS; Paramus, N.J.; www.kochmodular.com)
as part of Project Enterprise,
a U.S. Department of Energy-funded
endeavor to capture CO2 from the fluegas
of Calpine Energy's Los Medanos
Energy Center, a natural-gas combined
cycle power plant in Pittsburg, Calif. The
solvents being tested were developed by
ION Clean Energy (Boulder, Colo.; www.
ioncleanenergy.com) and are proprietary
amine-based solvents designed to improve
on the performance and long-term
costs of monoethanolamine (MEA), a traditional
carbon-capture solvent.
In prior testing at two leading carboncapture
research centers, the ION solvents,
called ICE-21 and ICE-31, showed
rapid CO2-absorption kinetics, as well as
the ability to capture more CO2 per unit
of volume than MEA. Combined with the
fact that the CO2-solvent binding energy
is lower than MEA's, the solvents require
less energy to release the CO2 and regenerate
the solvent.
" There are also important 'soft' benefits
over MEA processes, " explains ION
vice president for engineering Andrew
Awtry. " For example, ICE-31 is highly
stable under oxidative conditions, so we
see less degradation to the solvent over
time when used with fluegas from natural
gas plants, which contains significant
quantities of oxygen. " In addition, Awtry
says because the ICE-31 doesn't degrade
easily, there are very few volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) emitted.
ION's plan is to first test MEA at the
pilot facility to establish baseline performance
and cost, followed by ICE-21 and
then ICE-31, which will be run at the pilot
facility for one year to validate long-term
stability results from previous testing at
CO2-capture research facilities. Once
operating with ION's solvents, the pilot
plant is expected to have a capacity to
capture 10 ton/d of CO2, Awtry says.
it into the TU Graz network. The
maximum storage performance is
intended to be at 10 kW.
BIO-BASED ETHYLENE
Braskem S.A. (São Paulo, Brazil;
www.braskem.com) has concluded
a 30% increase in production
capacity of its bio-based
ethylene plant, located in the Petrochemical
Complex of Triunfo, Rio
Grande do Sul, Brazil. The $87-million
investment aims to meet the
growing global demand for sustainable
products. The plant now
operates at an increased capacity,
from 200,000 to 260,000 ton/yr.
The bio-based ethylene is made
from sugarcane-based ethanol.
Each ton of plastic resin made
from renewable feedstock represents
the removal of 3 tons of CO2
from the atmosphere. Since the
plant's beginning in 2010, more
than 1.2 million tons of " I'm green "
bio-based polyethylene has been
produced. The recent increase in
production capacity will remove
approximately 185,000 ton/yr of
CO2 equivalent.
(Continues on p. 10)
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SEPTEMBER 2023
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9
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Chemical Engineering September 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering September 2023
