New technology of the future - carbon capture
For our planet to have a chance of survival, the world's industries must cut their carbon emissions - but how? The answer is carbon capture. A revolutionary new technology that separates the harmful carbon dioxide from the emitted gas and packages it deep underground.
The combustion of fossil fuels currently accounts for over 25% of Sweden's energy supply and every day a large amount of carbon dioxide is released into our atmosphere. Although the use of fossil fuels has decreased in recent years, there is still a lot to be done, especially in industry, which currently accounts for about a fifth of fossil fuel use.
One solution to this problem could be carbon capture. This is the process of capturing harmful carbon dioxide, packaging it and then storing it deep underground. In Europe, there are currently several test centres investigating the process and research has come a long way. In Sweden, there is a test centre at Preem's refinery in Lysekil, and in Norway there are test centres at Mongstad, among others.
Different methods of capture
Carbon capture can be done in different ways and so far four methods have been tested for this purpose: amine technology, membrane technology, sorbent technology and calcium looping. Each method has its own advantages, but the most successful is based on amine technology.
Amine technology most successful
Carbon dioxide capture using amine technology involves scrubbing emission gases clean of carbon dioxide by adding an amine solution. In the first stage, the gas from the industry goes to a tower where it is mixed with amine solution, causing the carbon dioxide to be removed from the gas and captured by the liquid.
Once the carbon dioxide is captured by the liquid, it travels to another tower where it is heated, causing the carbon dioxide to turn into a concentrated form. After this, the carbon dioxide is dried and purified before it is finally liquefied by increasing the pressure and decreasing the temperature.
Transport and storage
Once the carbon dioxide has been liquefied, it can be packaged in tanks. The packaged carbon dioxide can then be easily transported by lorry, pipeline or ship to a carefully selected storage site, such as offshore oil wells, where the liquid carbon dioxide is pumped into the porous bedrock and stored stably.
Lyma has expertise
Although the process of carbon capture is still at a research stage, we at Lyma see great potential in the process. When it comes to chemical engineering and abrasive fluids, we have a great deal of expertise and our product catalogue includes several products especially suited for carbon capture.
In our range you will find, among other things canned motor pumps specifically designed to quickly and safely pump both liquid and concentrated carbon dioxide. Common to these pumps is that they have a double seal, which means that they are leak-proof pumps that do not release any liquid. The pumps are also designed to withstand low temperatures, which is particularly important when handling liquid carbon dioxide. Other features that characterise this type of pump are that they are compact and quiet.