The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and NETL continue to support the engineering scale development of SRI International’s mixed-salt process (MSP), representing one of the department’s many commitments to carbon capture technology innovation. The success of NETL’s Carbon Capture Program will enable cost-effective implementation of technologies that can be applied to the existing fleet of fossil fuel-fired plants, new plants, industrial facilities and the removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere.

SRI’s MSP is an advanced ammonia-based CO₂ absorption technology that has progressed from proof-of-concept testing through engineering scale process development over the past decade. The MSP uses readily available, inexpensive ammonium and potassium salt solutions in a novel process flow configuration that results in improved efficiency, reduced use of heat and electrical energy, reduced ammonia emissions, and a high-pressure CO₂ product.
Using SRI’s large bench-scale integrated system, MSP achieved CO₂ capture with high efficiency (>90%), very high CO₂ loading (>10 wt%), a high-pressure CO₂ product (>10 bar), low ammonia emissions, and low reboiler duty (2.0 to 2.3 GJ/tonne).

SRI will design and build an optimized, engineering scale (0.5 MWe) MSP test system for field testing at the coal-fired Abbott Power Plant located on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. The optimized test system will allow SRI to implement all aspects of the MSP to achieve the original objectives of validating a scale-up of the technology with the additional value of having industry partner Baker Hughes supporting the path forward.

SRI has entered into a global exclusive licensing agreement with Baker Hughes for MSP use for post-combustion CO₂ capture. The agreement with SRI follows Baker Hughes’ acquisition of Compact Carbon Capture in November 2020, and further expands upon its carbon capture, utilization and storage efforts for applications that include the treatment of flue gases from power plants, gas turbines, industrial applications and the cement industry.

“When we talk about synergy between academia, private industry, nonprofit organizations and the federal government through its national labs, such as NETL, this is a great example,” said Andrew Jones, NETL’s Technical Project Coordinator for Carbon Capture. “The key to addressing climate change is scaling and deploying innovative technologies that deliver deep carbon reduction with improved efficiencies and reduced costs. Strategic partnerships with strong industrial support are vital for building confidence in new technologies and enabling them to mature beyond engineering scale tests to commercial application .”

NETL develops and commercializes advanced technologies that provide clean energy while safeguarding the environment. NETL’s work supports DOE’s mission to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy and environmental challenges through transformative science and technology solutions.