Capturing Carbon: the role of biocatalysts and biofuels

What exactly is flue gas made of?

You might think, from coverage in the popular press, that flue gas is filled with CO2 — alas, no. It’s mostly atmosphere-neutral nitrogen, water and oxygen. Coal fired power plants have about 12 percent CO2 concentration, and natural gas plants have around 7 percent CO2.

The role of the biocatalyst

Carbon capture systems are based on absorbing materials that “scrub” the CO2 out of a flue gas stream. The higher the absorbent column, the higher the capex of the system. That’s where biocatalysts come into play — in the case of Akermin, the enzyme is supplied by Novozymes and the delivery system by Akermin that makes the process more effective and increases enzyme stability, reducing capex.

For example, a study of a specific LNG case with CO2 removal to < 50 ppm using Akermin’s Biocatalyst DeliverySystem concluded that the packing height of the absorber column was reduced more than 65% versus a conventional system. This and other process improvements resulted in a 15-20% reduction in capital cost, a 15-20% reduction in regeneration energy, and lower costs for system maintenance, solvent consumption and by-product disposal.

In today’s Digest, we look at the role of the biocatalyst, the role of biofuels, the scale of potential operations, next steps — and ultimately, “feasible or not feasible?” All available via the page links below.