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CLIMIT-Forskning, utvikling og demo av CO2-håndtering

Process-Informed design of tailor-made Sorbent Materials for energy efficient carbon capture

Alternative title: Prosessinformert design av skreddersydde sorbentmaterialer for energieffektiv karbonfangst

Awarded: NOK 6.2 mill.

The world we envision makes a concerted effort to minimize CO2, either through reuse of emitted CO2 as feedstock or permanently preventing the CO2 from escaping into the atmosphere through geological storage. In such an ideal world one envisions many different sources of CO2 with the economic incentive to optimize a Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) process that is optimally tailored to the individual local economic situation. The economic viability of each of these solutions is constrained by an effective price of carbon that sets a breakeven point for each of these processes. The technological challenge is to reduce this effective price of carbon by optimizing capture technologies for many different sources of CO2 and integrating a diverse range of applications for CO2 as a feedstock or for CO2 storage. The PrISMa project aims to accelerate the transition of energy and industrial sectors to a low-carbon economy by developing a technology platform to tailor-make cost-efficient carbon capture solutions for a range of different CO2 sources and CO2 use/destinations. Through the integration of materials design and process design the project will change the paradigm on how novel materials are developed for chemical engineering applications. Our intention is to demonstrate that within 6-9 months we can make a reliable statement whether for a given CO2 source and sink novel materials have the potential of reducing the effective carbon price.

The impact of PrISMa will be in closing the gap between the scientific developments in synthesis of novel materials and the specific engineering requirements for a carbon capture process. Using the PrISMa toolkit developed as part of the project we can recommend novel materials for Pressure Swing Adsorption based separations and provide a roadmap for development to TRL5, thus accelerating the technology development. Additionally, the impact of the methodology developed in PrISMa is expected to go beyond the boundaries of CCUS in all separation process in chemical engineering.

The PrISMa project aims to accelerate the transition of energy and industrial sectors to a low-carbon economy by developing a technology platform to tailor-make cost-efficient carbon capture solutions for a range of different CO2 sources and CO2 use/destinations. The PrISMa methodology starts with a high-level analysis, in terms of an effective carbon price, on how the performance of a separation process depends on the source of CO2 and its use/destiny. This analysis is subsequently translated into key performance indicators (KPIs) that novel materials need to achieve to reduce the effective carbon price in order to compete with state-of-the-art capture processes. A materials genomic approach is used to screen libraries of millions of in silico predicted structures to identify materials that meet the KPIs. The most promising materials will then be synthesized, characterised, and tested for their performance in a carbon capture process. For those materials that yield a significant reduction of the effective carbon price, a roadmap to bring these materials to TRL5 will be developed through case studies. PrISMa will provide the platform needed for high-throughput screening of materials to maximise their impact, to enable the design of efficient pilot-scale test facilities with improved processes under real conditions and, to decrease the time to market of affordable, cost-competitive, low environmental impact, and resource-efficient advanced capture technologies. Through the integration of materials design and process design we aim to change the paradigm on how novel materials are developed. In addition, PrISMa aims to initiate a systematic thinking about efficient solutions to mitigate CO2 emissions from different local CO2 sources that are optimal for a specific local setting. In such a setting the impact of PrISMa will be significant as the need for tailor-made solutions will be increasingly important if CO2 mitigation at the local level becomes the norm.

Funding scheme:

CLIMIT-Forskning, utvikling og demo av CO2-håndtering