CARBONCO, a carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology subsidiary of DL E&C, announced on the 22nd that it has successfully developed a carbon dioxide absorbent.
The absorbent is a key substance used to capture carbon dioxide emitted during the combustion of fossil fuels such as coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG). It is expected to effectively process carbon dioxide when applied at power plants or steel mills.
CARBONCO‘s absorbent can reduce capture expenses because it consumes less energy during the carbon dioxide capture process. The energy consumed when capturing one ton (t) of carbon dioxide is only 2.15 GJ (gigajoules, the international unit of energy). It reduced energy consumption by over 46% compared to the widely used absorbent monoethanolamine (MEA). This is similar to the level of absorbents from BASF and Shell, which are currently rated as the best in the world.
CARBONCO recently completed performance validation of its absorbent in a pilot process capable of capturing 6 tons of carbon dioxide per day (6 TPD) at the Alberta Carbon Transition Technology Centre (ACCTC) in Canada. Next month, it will install pilot equipment at the Pochen Combined Cycle Power Plant and begin full-scale demonstration testing.
Global market research firm IndustryArc forecasts that the CCUS market size will grow at an average annual rate of 29%, reaching $25.3 billion (approximately 37 trillion won) by 2026.
Lee Sang-min, CEO of CARBONCO, said, “The absorbent we developed will respond to the rapidly increasing global CCUS demand and will contribute to solidifying our position as a leading corporation.” He noted, “We plan to actively enter global markets, including North America, by leveraging this technology.”