The Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has selected 16 projects to receive funding through NETL’s Carbon Capture Program. The program funds development and testing of transformational carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture systems for new and existing coal-based power plants. Research funded by this program is expected to help overcome limitations of singular, standard gas treatment systems, such as those based on solvents, sorbents, or membranes alone.

Projects being funded fall under five subtopic areas: (1) Lab-scale, post-combustion capture, (2) Lab-scale, pre-combustion capture, (3) Bench-scale, post-combustion capture, (4) Bench-scale, pre-combustion capture, and (5) Biological CO₂ use/conversion.

Project descriptions follow.

Lab-Scale, Post-combustion Capture

Energy Efficient Membrane–Based “Hybrid” Hybrid Process for Post-combustion CO₂ Capture

Researchers at Gas Technology Institute (Des Plaines, IL) – with University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC), PoroGen Corporation (Woburn, MA), and Trimeric Corporation (Buda, TX) – will combine a graphene oxide (GO) membrane unit with the polyether ether ketone (PEEK) hollow fiber membrane contactor (HFMC) process. The HFMC process is a hybrid membrane/absorption process, so the proposed technology is a “hybrid” hybrid process, called the GO-PEEK Hybrid2 process. This project will last for 36 months.

Cost: DOE: $2,000,000; Non DOE: $526,025; Total Funding: $2,526,025

Enabling 10 mol/kg Swing Capacity via Heat Integrated Sub-ambient Pressure Swing Adsorption

Researchers at Georgia Tech Research Corporation (Atlanta, GA) and Inmondo Tech (Atlanta, GA) will develop polymeric fibers with embedded metal organic framework particles for testing in a sub-ambient, rapidly-cycled pressure swing adsorption system. A material with a melting/freezing point equivalent to the system operating temperature will melt as heat is released and freeze as CO₂ is desorbed, so no steam or cooling water is required. This project will last 36 months.

Cost: DOE: $1,988,714; Non DOE: $502,769; Total Funding: $2,491,483

Development of a Hybrid Capture System with Advanced Membrane, Solvent System, and Process Integration

Researchers at Liquid Ion Solutions, LLC (Pittsburgh, PA) – with Penn State University (University Park, PA) and Carbon Capture Scientific, LLC (South Park, PA) – will develop and test a hybrid membrane/absorption process that combines a polyphosphazene polymer-based mixed-matrix membrane unit and a CO₂ absorption process. The novel membranes will be synthesized by controlling the interface between the polymer and inorganic particles. This project will last 36 months.

Cost: DOE: $1,919,519; Non DOE: $479,880; Total Funding: $2,399,399

Electrochemically Mediated Sorbent Regeneration in CO₂ Scrubbing Processes

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA) and Alstom Power (Knoxville, TN) will advance a novel, electrically driven CO₂ capture technology that uses cost-effective metal ions to reversibly mediate the capture and release of CO₂ by traditional amine solvents. The electrochemically mediated capture technology eliminates the need for process steam, significantly reducing the cost of retrofit to existing power stations and industrial emitters. This project will last 36 months.

Cost: DOE: $1,202,056; Non DOE: $310,601; Total Funding: $1,512,657

Development of a Solid Sorbent for CO₂ Capture Process for Coal-Fired Power Plants

Research Triangle Institute (Research Triangle Park, NC) will evaluate the performance of two, third-generation fluidizable solid sorbents—hybrid-metal organic frameworks and hybrid-P-dendrimers—for incorporation in their sorbent-based, fluidized-bed CO₂ capture process. Researchers will synthesize, test, and show the potential for rapid scale-up of the two novel sorbent formulations. This project will last 24 months.

Cost: DOE: $1,591,532; Non DOE: $397,883; Total Funding: $1,989,415

Evaluation of Amine–Incorporated Porous Polymer Networks as Sorbents for Post-combustion CO₂ Capture

The research team at Texas A&M University (College Station, TX) – with Advanced Clean Energy Solutions, LLC (Highlands Ranch, CO) and framergy, Inc. (College Station, TX) – will advance the development of amine-incorporated porous polymer networks (aPPNs) for low-energy selective capture of CO₂ from flue gas. aPPNs are novel porous sorbents that can be fine-tuned through the incorporation of amine groups. The team intends to conduct lab-scale testing of the integrated process on actual coal-derived flue gas. This project will last 36 months.

Cost: DOE: $1,446,086; Non DOE: $361,522; Total Funding: $1,807,608

Development of a Novel Biphasic CO₂ Absorption Process with Multiple Stages of Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation for Post-Combustion Carbon Capture

Researchers at the University of Illinois (Champaign, IL) and Trimeric Corporation (Buda, TX) will develop biphasic solvents that form dual liquid phases, with the absorbed CO₂ concentrated in one phase and lean in the other. The novel process will maximize absorption kinetics and minimize the increase in solvent viscosity, reduce the mass required for solvent regeneration, and achieve high-pressure CO₂ desorption. The project will last 36 months.

Cost: DOE: $1,999,996; Non DOE: $501,052; Total Funding: $2,501,048

Hybrid Encapsulated Ionic Liquids for Post-combustion CO₂ Capture

This University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, IN) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Livermore, CA) will collaborate to test the use of hybrid encapsulated ionic liquid (IL) and/or phase-change ionic liquid (PCIL) materials for post-combustion CO₂ capture. The team will combine Notre Dame’s IL/PCIL materials and Lawrence Livermore’s micro-encapsulated carbon sorbents to form high surface area materials engineered for high-efficiency CO₂ capture by surmounting the mass transfer barriers caused by high viscosities. This project will last 36 months.

Cost: DOE: $1,999,576; Non DOE: $699,830; Total Funding: $2,699,406

Lab-Scale, Pre-combustion Capture

Sorption Enhanced Mixed Matrix Membranes for H₂ Purification and CO₂ Capture

Researchers at the University of Buffalo (Buffalo, NY) – with Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (Newark, CA) and Helios-NRG, LLC (Amherst, NY) – will develop mixed matrix membrane systems comprised of highly crosslinked polymers with strong size sieving ability and palladium-based nanomaterials for H₂/CO₂ separation. Field testing will occur at the National Carbon Capture Center (Wilsonville, AL) with real syngas. This project will last 36 months.

Cost: DOE: $ 1,884,877; Non DOE: $ 472,980; Total Funding: $2,357,857

Combined Sorbent/Water-Gas Shift–Based CO2 Capture Process with Integrated Heat Management

Southern Research (Durham, NC) – with IntraMicron, Inc. (Auburn, AL), Clariant (Charlotte, NC), and Nexant (San Francisco, CA) – will develop a combined magnesium oxide–based CO₂ sorbent/water-gas shift reactor for process intensification and CO2 capture at warm gas conditions. Using a dual-bed arrangement, the sorbent will be regenerated periodically by a combination of pressure and temperature swing. This project will last 36 months.

Cost: DOE: $1,962,191; Non DOE: $490,548; Total Funding: $2,452,739

A High-Efficiency, Ultra-compact Process for Pre-combustion CO₂ Capture

Researchers at the University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA) – with University of California, Los Angeles and Media and Process Technology, Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA) – will develop a membrane- and adsorption-enhanced water-gas shift reactor that employs a carbon molecular sieve-based membrane and a baseline hydrotalcite-based adsorbent. The adsorbent will regenerate via a temperature swing adsorption operation. This project will last 36 months.

Cost: DOE: $1,520,546; Non DOE: $388,472; Total Funding: $1,909,018

Bench-Scale, Post-combustion Capture

Testing of Next-Generation Hollow Fiber Membrane Modules

Researchers at American Air Liquide, Inc. (Newark, DE) and Parsons Government Services (San Antonio, TX) plan to continue development of a novel polyimide-based membrane material (PI-2) for application in Air Liquide’s hybrid CO₂ capture process. The process combines cold membrane operation with an integrated CO₂ compression and purification unit to significantly reduce the overall cost of capture. Field testing will occur at the National Carbon Capture Center with real flue gas. This project will last 36 months.

Cost: DOE: $3,000,000; Non DOE: $859,214; Total Funding: $3,859,214

Development of a Non-aqueous Solvent CO₂ Capture Process for Coal-Fired Power Plants

Research Triangle Institute (Research Triangle Park, NC) – with SINTEF (Trondheim, Norway) and Linde, LLC (Murray Hill, NJ) – will test a non-aqueous solvent (NAS)-based CO₂ capture process using actual coal-derived flue gas at a SINTEF pilot plant facility. The NAS development involves several amine-based NAS formulations and represents a disruptive advance in CO₂ capture to meet DOE’s mission to lower the cost associated with reducing CO₂ emissions from existing coal-fired power plants. The project will last 30 months.

Cost: DOE: $2,705,013; Non DOE: $931,990; Total Funding: $3,637,003

Bench-Scale, Pre-combustion Capture

Zeolite Membrane Reactor for Pre-combustion Carbon Dioxide Capture

Researchers at Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ) –with Media and Process Technology, Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA), University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH) and Nexceris (Lewis Center, OH) –will develop a hydrogen semi-permeable zeolite membrane reactor with an MFI-type support for water-gas shift with CO₂ capture. Field testing will occur at the National Carbon Capture Center with real syngas. The project will last 36 months.

Cost: DOE: $2,257,933; Non DOE: $570,527; Total Funding: $2,828,460

Biological CO2 Use/Conversion

A Microalgae–Based Platform for the Beneficial Reuse of CO2 Emissions from Power Plants

The research team at University of Kentucky Research Foundation (Lexington, KY) – with University of Delaware College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment (Newark, DE) and ALGIX, LLC (Meridian, MS) – will study microalgae-based CO₂ capture with conversion of the resulting algal biomass to fuels and bioplastics. Scenedesmus acutus algae will be cultured in an innovative cyclic-flow photobioreactor; the algae will be harvested and dewatered using a University of Kentucky technology based on flocculation (a process where fine particles clump together)/sedimentation/filtration. The project will yield a conceptual design for an algae-based CO₂ capture system suitable for integration with a coal-fired power plant. The project will last 24 months.  

Cost: DOE: $990,480; Non DOE: $266,935; Total Funding: $1,257,415

Microalgae Commodities from Coal Plant Flue Gas CO2

MicroBio Engineering, Inc. (San Luis Obispo, CA) will integrate microalgal production systems into the Orlando (Florida) Utilities Commission Stanton Energy Center coal-fired power plant and study their ability to use and mitigate CO₂ emissions from flue gas. Experimental work at the plant and the University of Florida, Gainesville will test the growth of native microalgae under local conditions with actual flue gas and pure CO₂. Other partners include Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ), Scripps Institution of Oceanography (La Jolla, CA), Life Cycle Associates LLC (Portola Valley, CA), and SFA Pacific, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA). The project will last 24 months.

Cost: DOE: $863,327; Non DOE: $282,640; Total Funding: $1,145,967