DoE invests $17.3 million in carbon capture technology for coal-fired plants

Six projects that seek to make existing carbon capture technology more affordable and reliable for use in coal-fired power plants were awarded $17.3 million in federal funding on Thursday by the Department of Energy (DoE).

The DoE Office of Fossil Energy’s Novel and Enabling Carbon Capture Transformational Technologies selected projects that are working to improve the reliability and operational flexibility of carbon capture technology while reducing capital costs and energy usage of existing technology.

The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois has been awarded $2.99 million in funding to develop and test a novel biphasic solvent-enabled absorption process for post-combustion carbon capture. The project has also secured $750,000 in non-federal funding.

The Institute of Gas and Technology has been awarded $2.9 million to develop a transformational graphene oxide-based membrane process for post-combustion carbon capture. The project has also secured $750,052 in non-federal funding.

Membrane Technology and Research has been awarded $2.9 million to develop composite membranes that improve carbon capture performance by replacing conventional porous supports with novel isoporous supports. The project has also secured $726,805 in non-federal funding.

SRI International has been awarded $2.99 million to develop mixed-salt-based transformational solvent technology that makes carbon capture systems operate more affordably. The project has also secured $782,817 in non-federal funding.

The University of Kentucky Research Foundation has been awarded $2.99 million to develop a process that uses decoupling absorber kinetics and solvent regeneration through membrane dewatering and column heat transfer to reduce the capital and operational costs of carbon capture. The project has also secured $750,000 in non-federal funding.

Linde, LLC, has been awarded $2.78 million to research and develop solvent aerosol emission mitigation technologies that reduce flue gas aerosol concentrations in solvent-based, post-combustion carbon capture systems. The project has also secured $696,936 in non-federal funding.