On December 22, 2009, Powerspan announced test results today from a one-megawatt pilot unit demonstrating its post-combustion ECO2 carbon capture technology for coal-fired power plants.
In a real world operating environment, the pilot averaged greater than ninety percent carbon dioxide (CO2) capture from a slipstream of flue gas from the coal-fired power plant. The pilot performance data provides all of the information needed for Powerspan to confidently move to commercial scale demonstration systems. Commercial cost estimates based on pilot performance data are less than $50 per ton for CO2 capture and compression.
Commercially proving post-combustion CO2 capture technology is a key pathway toward meaningful CO2 emission reductions from the existing power plant infrastructure.
These pilot test results take the ECO2 technology one step closer to commercialization.
During extended runs, the pilot unit averaged greater than ninety percent CO2 capture at design inlet CO2 conditions with regeneration energy of less than 1,200 Btu/lb after heat integration. The product CO2 was purified to meet industrial pipeline specifications using equipment that is part of the pilot installation. The pilot unit has demonstrated that it can adapt to the normal changes of an operating power plant, which is a necessary step in moving toward commercial scale systems.
The technology is a post-combustion capture of carbon from the flue gas of coal-fired power plants. Once the CO2 is captured, it is dried and compressed and is ready for pipeline transport and sequestration.