Power generation company Alstom together with US-based The Dow Chemical Company have announced a joint pilot program to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from the flue gas of a coal-fired boiler at the Dow-owned facility in South Charleston.
The pilot plant uses proprietary advanced-amine technology jointly developed by Alstom and Dow to capture approximately 1,800 metric tonnes of CO2 per year.
Dow is a leader in chemistry for the development of energy and climate change solutions.
The joint pilot will operate for the next two years, generating reliable, long-term data that can be used to optimise this technology for implementation at coal-fired power plants across the globe, according to the two companies.
In 2008, the two companies entered into a Joint Development Agreement to develop this technology. In March 2009, the companies announced their plans to design and construct the plant.
“As a leader in carbon capture technology, Alstom is excited to take the next step in commercializing an advanced-amine technology,” said Alstom Power president and Alstom ececutive vice president, Philippe Joubert.
“This pilot plant is designed to evaluate the technology operating under power plant conditions, test proprietary innovations jointly developed by Dow and Alstom and provide data necessary to finalise the design of large-scale demonstration plants that will apply this technology. Integrating this process with new advanced coal and gas fired power generation equipment will allow customers to minimize CO2 emissions while generating electricity as cost effectively as possible.”