Membrane Technology and Research (MTR) Carbon Capture announced the completion of a carbon capture testing facility at the Wyoming Integrated Test Center (WITC) in Gillette, Wyoming. The facility is the largest membrane-based carbon capture facility in the world. It is designed to capture approximately 55,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) per year.

The Large Pilot Testing of the MTR Membrane Post-Combustion CO₂ Capture Process project is a cooperative agreement between MTR and NETL, which is funded through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Fossil Fuel Large-Scale Pilots program. The Fossil Fuel Large-Scale Pilots effort supports the design, construction, and operation of large test facilities for transformational technologies. The pilots supported by the DOE will be used to assess the scalability and commercial potential of transformational technologies, helping mitigate risk and aiding in commercial adoption.

This cooperative agreement, was initially awarded in 2018, but DOE has supported the development of MTR’s carbon capture technology through various other competitive funding opportunities starting in 2010 and continuing to the present.

“The development of this carbon capture technology and successful completion of the testing facility in Wyoming shows what is possible when private industry and government entities work together toward a common goal,” said Nicole Shamitko-Klingensmith, NETL federal project officer. “Projects such as these can offer a glimpse of what a decarbonized economy in the future can look like — carbon capture plants adjacent to currently existing power and industrial facilities that use America’s abundant energy resources that capture greenhouse gas emissions at their source.”

The testing facility is designed capture up to 150 tonnes of CO₂ per day from Basin Electric’s Dry Fork Station (DFS), a coal-fired power plant. The MTR Carbon Capture Polaris™ membrane process uses no chemicals and very little water, and does not require heat or steam input. This system will be the largest membrane-based capture plant to be put into operation.

“This is a very exciting milestone for MTR and an important step in scaling affordable, clean technology for point source carbon capture” Brett Andrews, president of MTR Carbon Capture, said in a statement. “MTR’s Polaris™ membranes have been proven, with over 15 years of development and a series of pilot and demonstration carbon capture plants of increasing scale, culminating in the largest membrane capture plant ever built.”

NETL is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory that drives innovation and delivers solutions for a clean and secure energy future. By leveraging its highly skilled innovators and state-of-the-art research facilities, NETL is advancing carbon management and resource sustainability technologies to enable environmental sustainability for all Americans.