LUNA LABS USA LLC — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: C54-19f

Description

There are increasingly important legislative, social, and environmental factors motivating reductions in man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The maritime shipping industry presently contributes about 3% of global CO2 emissions and has made little progress towards the International Maritime Organization (IMO) goal to reduce emissions to 50% of their 2008 level by 2050. The current lack of progress in decarbonization efforts combined with the growth of the shipping industry yield projections that shipping may contribute as much as 17% of global CO2 emissions by 2050. It is currently unclear whether incremental improvements in conventional carbon capture technologies can enable cost effective maritime carbon capture. A dual-phase molten electrolyte active transport membrane is being developed to offer a fundamentally new alternative with advantages that are uniquely suited for the constraints of a maritime application. Luna Labs’ FlueCO2 membranes separate CO2 from flue gases so efficiently that capture rates as high as 90% may be achieved in relatively small volumes. Powered by a simple steam loop, these modular membranes have minimal parasitic energy cost and can respond flexibly to the ships’ energy demands. In this project, the FlueCO2 carbon capture and storage process that is being developed for natural gas combined cycle power plants will be modified to assess its technical viability and economic competitiveness as a maritime carbon capture and storage process. The project will focus process development on post-combustion capture of CO2 in liquid natural gas- and marine diesel oil-powered tankers. A detailed process flow diagram for each process will be developed and opportunities for integration into each vessels’ power generation process will be analyzed. The final process will produce equipment sizing, heat and mass balances, and system energy performance analysis. These results will be used to produce a techno-economic analysis with a target of reducing the cost projections of maritime carbon capture from nearly $100/ton in the current state of the art for solvent-based capture to <$65/ton. By reducing the cost of maritime carbon capture by over 30%, the FlueCO2 process will enable the shipping industry to meet its 2050 emissions targets. The development and domestic manufacture of cost-effective maritime carbon capture and storage systems would position the United States as a world manufacturing leader for decarbonization of the shipping industry. The capture and storage of CO2 will benefit the US public by reducing greenhouse effects on the climate. Climate change models indicate that increased anthropogenic emissions of CO2 will lead to greater extremes in weather, including droughts, flooding, and more severe storms.