BASF recently announced it has completed a joint pilot project with The Linde Group to improve capture of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from flue gas at a coal fired power plant at the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC). The NCCC is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) research facility managed and operated by Southern Co. in Wilsonville, Ala.

The technology used during the pilot project reportedly integrates BASF’s advanced aqueous amine-based solvent and process technology. Testing confirmed the main performance targets set for the facility. Specifically, it captured more than 90% CO₂ from the flue gas, while the purity of the CO₂ was more than 99.9%. The design capacity of the operation was up to 1.5 Megawatt-electric (MWe) and required less than 2.8 gigajoules of regeneration steam per metric ton of CO₂. The NCCC includes a post-combustion carbon capture facility that reportedly allows testing and integration of advanced technologies using actual coal-derived flue gas from an 880-MW pulverized coal unit at Alabama Power’s Plant in Gaston. The pilot plant has operated at the facility for more than 1,200 hours at a higher regeneration pressure of 3.4 bar absolute, thereby reportedly demonstrating a cost advantage over other amine-based technologies.

“The amine-based OASE blue technology offers significant benefits for CO₂ capture as it aims to reduce the regeneration energy requirements using novel solvents,” said Andreas Northemann, Ph.D., vice president of BASF’s OASE Gas Treating Excellence. “Long-term pilot testing demonstrated the solvents’ performance and stability. BASF’s almost 50 years of experience in industrial gas treating, combined with the expertise of Linde in large-scale engineering, procurement and construction, will lead us to the commercial scale-up of OASE blue technology.”

For more information, visit www.basf.com or www.linde-worldwide.com.