The CCS-validation project achieved a successful scale-up of ten times the size of previous field pilots, according to the Cabon Capture Journal.

The main results are:

– Capture rates from 75% (design value) to as high as 90%

– CO₂ purity of greater than 99%.

– Energy penalties within a few percent of predictions from Alstom’s process simulation model.

– CO₂ injection levels of approximately 7,000 tonnes/month (the equivalent of taking 17,000 cars off the road).

– Robust steady-state operation during all modes of power plant operation including load changes.

– Availability of the CCS system greater than 90%.

Alstom is satisfied with the achievements so far.

– By partnering with American Electric Power, we have been able to advance the technology while at the same time raising awareness of the need for CCS technology to address CO₂ emissions from new and existing coal and natural gas power plants,” said Patrick Fragman, Alstom’s VP, Environmental Control Systems & CO₂ Capture Systems, in a press release.

Larger-scale phase two

With these results, the formal testing period is completed. This provides further confidence to start phase two, a large-scale demonstration period with the ability to capture up to 1.5 million tonne CO₂ per year.

AEP’s Mountaineer plant is a 1,300-megawatt electrical coal-fired unit that was retrofitted in 2009 with Alstom’s patented chilled ammonia CO₂– capture technology on a 20 megawatt (MW) portion. The CO₂ is being compressed and piped for storage into deep geologic formations, roughly 2.4 kilometer beneath the plant surface.