Pilot plant shows potential of carbon capture

Imperial College London has opened a £2m plant which will carry out industrial research

Imperial College London has emerged as a global front-runner in carbon capture research after opening a £2 million pilot plant that can separate CO₂ from synthesised flue gas.

The three-storey facility, located at Imperial’s main campus in central London, is capable of processing up to 1 tonne of CO₂ a day. It will be used to conduct industrial research into carbon capture technologies and to train young engineers of the future.

Professor Nigel Brandon, who holds the chair in sustainable development in energy at Imperial, said: “I’ve seen a lot of energy research facilities around the world, but I have never seen one quite like this. It puts Imperial at the cutting edge, helping industry reduce the cost and energy requirements of the capture process.”

Synthesised flue gas comprising carbon dioxide and nitrogen enters the system and is passed into a saturation vessel, so that the CO₂ becomes saturated with water before passing into an absorber tower. This helps with the subsequent CO₂ absorption process. 

The gas rises up the absorber tower as a mono-ethanol amine solution flows down from the top. The CO₂ absorption process requires specific pressure, temperature and pH conditions.

The CO₂-rich amine solution is pumped to the top of the regenerator tower. It then flows into a re-boiler by natural convection processes, where the liquid is heated and a fraction turns into vapour. The vapour passes up the regenerator tower into a condenser where the amine solution condenses, leaving the CO₂ as a gas to be collected. The CO₂-free liquid mono-ethanol amine returns to the regenerator and is then pumped back to the top of the absorber tower.

Daryl Williams, director of the pilot plant, said it would be used to carry out industrial research. Imperial has existing relationships with Shell and Scottish Power and would now look to extend its industrial links. “The nature of this technology means firms from the power and the oil and gas sector are working together, and we will be looking to exploit the facility with other organisations,” he said.

The plant includes 250 sensors from ABB that monitor a range of conditions including temperature and pressure. Many of the sensors are wireless or powered by excess energy harvested from the plant. 

Students will be able to dial in to the plant using iPads to carry out mock repairs to the facility. Visualisation ports have also been built into the towers.

“As well as being a research tool, the pilot plant will be a wonderful educational resource that will be used by around 300 young engineers every year,” added Williams.