DOE - Fossil Energy Techline - Issued on:  May 7, 1999

Energy Department to Fund Further Studies of Six Concepts for Capturing, Disposing of Greenhouse Gases


Concepts Emerged From Early DOE Competition to
Identify Possible Approaches to Reducing Global Warming Gases

Six promising concepts that could offer advanced, low-cost approaches for reducing the buildup of greenhouse gases in the world's atmosphere have emerged from a year of exploratory studies and have been selected by the Department of Energy for further development.

The six propose different ways to capture or permanently dispose of greenhouse gases - part of a family of intriguing new technical concepts called "carbon sequestration." The Energy Department will provide more than $2.5 million to the selected projects to explore concepts that range from advanced membranes that would extract carbon dioxide from hydrocarbon-fueled systems to the disposal of carbon dioxide in the deep ocean or into underground saline formations.

Carbon sequestration research is attracting increasing interest largely because it may make it possible to remove large quantities of greenhouse gases from the exhausts of energy systems or from the atmosphere without requiring a major turnover of today's energy infrastructure. If the technology can be made affordable, reliable, and environmentally safe, both industrialized and developing countries could use it to manage their carbon emissions.

The six projects chosen by Energy Department to enter a second phase of development are:

These projects were selected after the Energy Department evaluated preliminary feasibility studies conducted for 12 concepts selected a year ago in the department's first-ever competition for carbon sequestration research ideas (see April 29, 1998 announcement). The initial 12 projects, drawn from 62 proposals, received $50,000 study grants from the department's Office of Fossil Energy.

With the additional federal funding, each of the six selected projects will be extended for 22 months, permitting larger scale experimentation and more extensive technical and economic assessments.

At the end of the second phase, the Energy Department plans to select projects for a third and final phase, a 30-month pilot- and large-scale testing program designed to prove a technology's engineering feasibility.

The Energy Department has set a goal of determining whether affordable, reliable and safe carbon sequestration concepts can be readied for widespread commercial use by 2025.

Recently the Department issued a 200-page draft report on the state of the science of carbon sequestration and possible actions to develop future concepts. DOE is asking the research community to review the report and assist in developing a science and technology "road map" that will guide future development efforts. A technical workshop is being planned for early summer to begin mapping future research directions.

Details on each of the selected projects follow.

Sequestration Project Details

  • McDermott Technologies, Inc., Alliance, OH
    Lead researcher: Dr. Hamid Sarv, 330/829-7585; proposed Phase II award: $390,000
    Project: "Large-Scale CO2 Transportation and Deep-Ocean Sequestration"

    In Phase II, McDermott Technology, Inc., in collaboration with the J. Ray McDermott Company, a major supplier of marine pipelines, will continue a program aimed at demonstrating the technical and economic viability of large-scale carbon dioxide transportation and deep-ocean storage. The investigation will focus on extending the application of pipe-laying technology far beyond the current depth of 1300 meters. Emphasis will be placed on injection at depths of 3000 meters or more to avoid ecological and environmental impacts. McDermott will address the major engineering challenges to oceanic tanker transport of liquid carbon dioxide to an offshore floating platform or a barge for vertical injection to the ocean floor. Based on the preliminary technical and economic analyses in Phase I, tanker transportation and offshore injection through a large-diameter, vertical pipe from a floating structure appears to be the best method for delivering liquid CO2 to deep ocean floor depressions. Adaptability of existing floating platforms and pressurized liquid chemical transport tankers will be evaluated for this application. Large-diameter and thick-walled pipes could be installed by a novel subsurface towing concept. Work in the upcoming Phase II will include structural analysis of the transport pipeline, and conceptual economic and engineering evaluation for large-scale implementation of the CO2 transportation and sequestration concepts.

  • Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC
    Lead Researcher: Dr. Ashok S. Damle, 919/541-6146; proposed Phase II award: $500,000

    Project: "Recovery of Carbon Dioxide in Advanced Fossil Processes Using a Membrane Reactor" - Research Triangle Institute's Phase I work involves developing an inorganic, palladium-based membrane device that reforms hydrocarbon fuels to mixtures of hydrogen and CO2 and, at the same time, separates the high-value hydrogen. The remaining gas, predominantly CO2, is recovered in a compressed form. Hydrogen's only byproduct after combustion is water vapor, which is harmless to the environment. Phase I demonstrated the electroless plating technique for depositing palladium on a ceramic substrate and developed a membrane reactor module. Phase II will involve reforming reaction and hydrogen-separation experiments in a bench-scale test facility. Phase III would demonstrate the technology at the proof-of-concept scale.

  • The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
    Lead researcher: Dr. Susan Hovorka, 512/471-4683; Proposed amount: $291,000

    Project: "Optimal Geological Environments for Carbon Dioxide Disposal in Saline Acquifers in the U.S." - This project includes targeting drilling locations for CO2-injection wells, and better defining saline-formation conditions for CO2 disposal and sequestration. Through geologic modeling and a database approach, a best-fit saline host formation will be located. In Phase I, 14 geological properties were identified as optimal CO2-sequestration locations in saline water-bearing formations, based on information that meet prototype criteria for CO2 sequestration. In Phase II, researchers will inventory saline formations in at least 22 basins, and identify optimal saline water-bearing locations using parameters identified in Phase I, and depositional systems and geological play analysis in combination with other data sets.

  • Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, OH
    Lead Researcher: Dr. Neeraj Gupta, (614)424-3820

    Project: "Experimental Evaluation of Chemical Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide in Deep Aquifer Media"- The project seeks to conduct advanced research on geologic processes. Chemical-sequestration issues that will enhance our understanding of deep-well injection of super-critical CO2 will be emphasized in an effort to make this technique more acceptable and cost effective. Preliminary research in Phase I indicates there is sufficient capacity in deep-saline formations for substantial CO2 sequestration. Small-scale laboratory experiments and economic analyses will be conducted in Phase II.

  • TDA Research, Inc., Wheat Ridge, CO


    Lead researcher: Dr. Robert J. Copeland, 303/940-2323; Proposed Phase II award: $500,000

    Project: "A Novel CO2 Separation System" - In Phase I, TDA researched the overall efficiency and costs, using iron- and copper-based sorbents, of a power-generation cycle it developed called Sorbent Energy Transfer System (SETS). The system can dramatically reduce or eliminate CO2 emissions with a small loss in plant efficiency and a 5% increase in fuel usage. TDA developed sorbents with high strength and good mass-transfer characteristics, and good loadings could be oxidized and reduced for several cycles. In Phase II, TDA will improve the loadings, life of the sorbent and conduct life-cycle tests. The sorbent will be tested in a large-scale Transport Reactor Test Unit.

  • Institute for Environmental Management, Inc. (IEM), Palo Alto, CA
    Lead researcher: Donald Augenstein, 650/856-2850; proposed Phase II award: $347,000

    Project: "Landfill Operation for Carbon Sequestration and Maximum Methane Emissions Control" - The objectives of this project are to determine cost and performance data of a landfill outside Davis, California, including gas generation and other indicators of the progress of biological activity and waste decomposition. The project involves two demonstration cells, each containing 9,000 tons of waste. Biological reactions are facilitated by optimized additions of liquid. Cells are covered with a gas impermeable membrane to contain methane; gas permeable layers conduct gas to a collection point. Gas-generation, waste-volume reduction and hydraulic monitoring behavior are planned until the methane-generation phase is complete.

- End of TechLine -

For more information, contact:
Robert C. Porter, Office of Fossil Energy, 202-586-6503
Otis Mills, Federal Energy Technology Center, 412-892-5890

Technical contact:
Thomas Dorchak, Federal Energy Technology Center, 412-892-4305, e-mail: tdorch@fetc.doe.gov