Southern Company Services (SCS) has teamed with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America and AECOM Technical Services to test improvements to carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture and storage (CCS) processes. The goal of this project is to evaluate the improvements of an integrated stripper/reboiler, particulate matter management, and new solvent on the existing 25 MWe-scale, amine-based Kansai Mitsubishi Carbon Dioxide Recovery (KM-CDR™) process at Southern Company’s Plant Barry. The KM-CDR at Plant Barry is a fully-integrated CCS plant and has achieved 90 percent CO2 capture at a production rate of 500 metric tons per day. The large-scale pilot plant uses the proprietary KS-1 solvent, which shows several benefits relative to monoethanolamine-based processes. The key technical challenges of high-steam consumption, solvent performance degradation, and process equipment footprint will be investigated. During Phase I, SCS will perform a preliminary techno-economic analysis, preliminary design, and technology gap analysis; integrate results from previous amine-based CO₂ capture process testing; and define the project plan to include baseline, parametric, and long-term operations testing. 

Projects for the large-scale (equivalent of 10 to +25 MWe) pilot testing of post-combustion CO₂ capture technology systems are being conducted in two phases, with a competitive downselect to continue from Phase I into Phase II. This project was selected for Phase I; a Phase II application must be submitted to be considered for the full project.