NETL has released an informative carbon capture infographic that highlights the role of advanced manufacturing in driving down capture costs and how it can improve process performance. Additive manufacturing, using 3D printing, enables the development of components for carbon capture equipment that intensify heat and mass transfer, improve process performance and reduce overall equipment size, lowering capital and operating costs.

The Lab manages a vast portfolio of carbon capture research and development projects that are successfully reducing costs to ensure the availability of clean, reliable and affordable energy from America’s abundant domestic resources. In support of these projects, the Lab has published a series of infographics that explains the structure of the Carbon Capture Program, illustrates its impact and highlights the achievements of notable projects. Click here to access all the infographics released to date. This most recent graphic outlines three projects that are using 3D printing to produce rapid protypes with the potential to capture CO₂ more efficiently and economically.

In 2007, the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that current and projected atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations. Carbon capture technologies reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere by capturing carbon dioxide from fossil energy-fueled power plants; however, existing capture technologies add additional costs for industry and consumers. NETL is leveraging cutting-edge research facilities, world-class technical expertise and strategic collaborations to develop efficient and economical solutions that make carbon capture technology viable for decades to come.