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Membranes: An Emerging CO2 Capture Technology

Tim Merkel and Brice Freeman Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (MTR)

U.S. Energy Association June 29, 2017

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Outline

• Introduction and membrane background

• CO2 capture with membranes

• Field tests and current status of technology

• Summary thoughts

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Introduction to MTR

• Privately-held, 60 employees mostly located in Newark, California

• Sell gas separation systems into petrochemical, natural gas, and refinery industries worldwide

• Technology originally developed through DOE, NSF, and EPA SBIR grants

• Have worked with DOE for the past 8 years on development of CO2 capture membranes

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Membranes and Modules

• Membranes are packaged in modules for industrial separations

• Composite membranes provide high gas fluxes

(0.1-5 µm)

(50-100 µm)

Typically, 500-1000 m2/m3

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Dow Filmtec reverse osmosis system, 1.5 million m2 area, Ashkelon, Israel

Membrane Systems Can Be Very Large

Schlumberger Cameron CO2/natural gas system, 700 MMscfd, Gulf of Thailand

• Membranes are widely used for water desalination and natural gas sweetening

• The largest existing systems are similar in scale to that required for CO2 capture at a 550 MWe coal-fired power plant

• However, current membranes are not suited for CO2 capture; development needed

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• The key challenges for capture technologies are the low partial pressure of CO2 and the large scale required for flue gas treatment

• For membranes to be cost-effective, innovations in process design and membrane materials were needed

Post-Combustion CO2 Capture with Membranes

Boiler Coal

CO2

Air PM FGD

Ash

Steam to turbines

Sulfur

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• Simple, passive operation with no chemical handling, emissions, or disposal issues

• Relatively low water use (harvests H2O from gas)

• Modular technology allows advanced manufacturing and economies of volume

• No steam use → no modifications to existing boiler/turbines

• Near instantaneous response; high turndown possible → preserves plant operability

• Particularly efficient for partial capture

Advantages of a Membrane Process

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MTR/DOE CO2 Capture Development Timeline

Feasibility study (DE-NT43085) • Sweep concept proposed • Polaris membrane conceived

APS Red Hawk NGCC Demo • First Polaris flue gas test • 250 lb/d CO2 used for algae farm

APS Cholla Demo (DE-FE5312) • First Polaris coal flue gas test • 1 TPD CO2 captured (50 kWe)

NCCC 1 MWe Demo (DE-FE5795) • 11,000 hours of 1 TPD system operation • 1 MWe (20 TPD) system operation

2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020

TRL6 TRL7 TRL8 TRL5 TRL4

Hybrid Capture (DE-FE13118) • Membrane-solvent hybrids with UT, Austin

Low Pressure Mega Module (DE-FE7553) • Design and build a 500 m2 optimized module

10 MWe Large Pilot

TRL3

B&W Integrated Test

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U.S. Patents 7,964,020 and 8,025,715

DOE Support has Produced Process and Material Innovations

Polaris™ Membranes Selective Exhaust Gas Recycle Design

Developments include a patented process design and the Polaris membrane, which has found commercial use in shale gas treatment

CO2 to utilization or

storage

To achieve high capture rates, MTR uses selective CO2 recycle to reduce the

cost of capture.

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Importance of Continued Development to Reduce Costs

• All calculations are for 90% CO2 capture using DOE Bituminous Baseline report methodology

• Higher permeance (lower cost) membranes are key to approaching cost targets

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20

40

60

80

100

120

100 1,000 10,000

Changein COE

(%)

Membrane CO 2 permeance (gpu)

1st Generation Polaris

2nd Generation Polaris

MEA (Case 10)

DOE Target

AdvancedPolaris

Assumed membrane cost = $50/m2

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Membranes are Particularly Effective at Partial Capture

• Membranes show a minimum in capture cost

• To match natural gas CO2 emissions, capture rates of 40-50% are needed for coal plants

30

40

50

60

70

0 20 40 60 80 100CO2 capture rate (%)

Cost ofCO2 captured

($/tonne)

Single-step process, no recycle

Two-step process with CO2 recycle

DOE target

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1 TPD Field Testing at NCCC

• The National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) is a valuable field laboratory

• Allows validation testing with real coal flue gas

• MTR system tested vacuum and air sweep membrane steps capturing 1 ton CO2/day

• Accumulated over 11,000 hours of operation

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• Recently, MTR pilot system completed 6 months of successful operation at NCCC

• Currently, system is being tested at a Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) boiler facility

• Membranes are simple and compact

Scale-Up to 20 TPD Small Pilot

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Compact, Modular Membrane Systems are Easily Moved and Installed

Crane lowering 2nd floor of system into place

Photo courtesy of Tony Wu

1st floor of system arriving by truck

20 TPD system during installation at NCCC

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Testing Integrated Operation at B&W Boiler Research Facility

• After testing at NCCC, the 20 TPD skid was installed at B&W’s Barberton, OH research facility

• Goal was to evaluate impact of recycled CO2 on boiler performance

Main skid Sweep module

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Integrated Operation at B&W

MTR 20 TPD system (foreground) installed at B&W’s coal boiler facility (background) B&W Test Highlights

• Boiler flame is stable with recycled CO2; NOx reduced

• No modifications to boiler required; retrofits are possible

• Boiler performance with CO2 recycle is consistent with prior simulations

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Next Step: Large Pilot

• Current status: ─ Successfully tested at small pilot scale at NCCC and B&W ─ A world-leading membrane capture technology that needs a

final push for commercialization

• Next step: ─ Large pilot (~10 MWe) test is a critical scale-up step to

demonstrate the final “form factor” for modular membrane technology; MTR cannot do it alone

─ Once proven at this scale, these membrane modules can be repeated for full-scale, commercial systems

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• Selectively recycle CO2 by using sweep membranes

• Pre-concentrates CO2 with almost no energy input → reduces minimum work of capture

Membrane Selective Exhaust Gas Recycle

Membrane Process Can Also Be Used For Natural Gas Capture

0

5

10

15

20

25

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

CO2 in flue gas

(%)

O2 in combustion air (%)

CO2-selective recycle

Non-selective recycle

No recycle

Increasing recycle

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• With DOE support, we have taken a novel, advanced membrane capture technology through small pilot testing

• This membrane approach offers many advantages including simplicity, environmental-friendliness, small footprint, and low cost particularly at partial capture

• DOE support of large pilot testing is critical as a final push to commercialization

• While developed for coal, the selective recycle membrane approach can also be used to reduce the energy costs of decarbonizing natural gas power

Summary

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• U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory

– Jose Figueroa – Mike Mosser

• Southern Company Services (NCCC) – Tony Wu – Frank Morton

• Babcock & Wilcox – Hamid Farzan – Andrew Mackrory

Acknowledgements

Questions? Tim.merkel@mtrinc.com

Slide Number 1Slide Number 2Slide Number 3Slide Number 4Slide Number 5Slide Number 6Slide Number 7Slide Number 8Slide Number 9Slide Number 10Membranes are Particularly Effective at Partial Capture Slide Number 12Slide Number 13Compact, Modular Membrane Systems are Easily Moved and InstalledTesting Integrated Operation at B&W Boiler Research FacilityIntegrated Operation at B&WNext Step: Large PilotSlide Number 18Slide Number 19Slide Number 20ExtrasSlide Number 22Slide Number 23Slide Number 24Slide Number 2520 TPD System PerformanceSlide Number 27Objectives of B&W Test ProgramSlide Number 29Slide Number 30MTR’s CO2 Capture ProcessPolaris™ Membranes for CO2 CaptureMTR Selective Recycle Capture ProcessSample 1 TPD Results from NCCCSystems Analysis: Membranes are Particularly Effective at Partial Capture Slide Number 36Slide Number 37Slide Number 38Slide Number 39Slide Number 40Slide Number 41Slide Number 42Slide Number 43Correlation of CO2 Purity and Capture Rate With TemperatureSmall Pilot Uses Modules Designed for Low-Pressure OperationFuel Use and Atmospheric CO2 Content are IncreasingThe Climate is ChangingCCS is An Important Component of a CO2 Emissions Reduction StrategyCO2 Capture Options for Fossil FuelSystem Tests Scaled-Up �Membrane ModulesNew Modules Demonstrate Improved Pressure Drop Performance