LUNA INNOVATIONS INCORPORATED — Department of Energy SBIR Phase II: 1

Description

Luna Innovations (Luna) is developing FlueCO2, a process that enables traditional power generators to respond to increased variable renewable energy (e.g. wind and solar) while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. FlueCO2 is a combined membrane and gas compression technology that integrates into existing natural gas power plants and actively removes CO2 from the exhaust gas. The membrane separates CO2 at unrivaled rates using steam generated within the plant. The CO2-rich steam leaving the membranes passes through a series of compressors to remove the water so it can be regenerated into steam at the most energy efficient conditions. Remaining CO2 is then compressed for pipeline transport. The FlueCO2 membranes and process are currently being scaled for baseload plants (100% output) and estimates of the energy and economic costs will be generated to support continued technology investment. In FLECCS Phase I, the process will be designed for natural gas power plants flexibly operating in response to renewable energy generation (e.g. plant varies output below 100%). The rate and costs of CO2 capture will be optimized for variable electricity market prices (i.e. localized marginal pricing) and dynamic power output by adjusting the amount of steam swept through the membrane system. Through materials and membrane testing, modeling, process simulation and equipment design, the Luna team will optimize the process for these flexibly operated plants. At the end of Phase I, Luna will demonstrate that carbon capture and electricity costs to customer can be minimized with FlueCO2 integrated power plants for a net-zero carbon electricity grid.