Oil and gas company Exxon Mobil has signed an agreement with integrated fuel cell company FuelCell Energy to develop a carbon-capture system that can reduce green house gas emission from fossil fuel based power plants.
Oil and gas company Exxon Mobil has signed an agreement with integrated fuel cell company FuelCell Energy to develop a carbon-capture system that can reduce green house gas emission from fossil fuel based power plants.
Both the companies are looking to develop the technology to capture carbon dioxide from power plants with the use of carbonate fuel cells.
It is expected to reduce costs and help in combating climate change.
ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Company research and development vice president Vijay Swarup said: "Advancing economic and sustainable technologies to capture carbon dioxide from large emitters such as power plants is an important part of ExxonMobil’s suite of research into lower-emissions solutions to mitigate the risk of climate change.
"Our scientists saw the potential for this exciting technology for use at natural gas power plants to enhance the viability of carbon capture and sequestration while at the same time generating additional electricity.
"We sought the industry leaders in carbonate fuel-cell technology to test its application in pilot stages to help confirm what our researchers saw in the lab over the last two years."
US based FuelCell Energy designs, manufactures, installs, operates and services stationary fuel cell power plants.
The company manufactures Direct FuelCell (DFC) power plants which can generate power using fuels like renewable biogas from wastewater treatment and food processing, as well as clean natural gas, directed biogas and propane.
Both the companies are looking to further develop the carbon capture technology and expecting that the demand for it will increase in coming years.
The laboratory test of the technology have shown that integration of two existing technologies – carbonate fuel cells and natural gas-fired power generation – captures carbon dioxide more efficiently than existing scrubber conventional capture technology.
During the two years test, it was found that the use of the fuel cells can reduce the cost of carbon capture from natural gas powered plants substantially compared to conventional separation technology.
FuelCell Energy president and chief executive officer Chip Bottone said: "Carbon capture with carbonate fuel cells is a potential game-changer for affordably and efficiently concentrating carbon dioxide for large-scale gas and coal-fired power plants.
"Ultra-clean and efficient power generation is a key attribute of fuel cells and the carbon capture configuration has the added benefit of eliminating approximately 70 percent of the smog-producing nitrogen oxide generated by the combustion process of these large-scale power plants."
As part of the deal, ExxonMobil and FuelCell Energy will look to further increase the efficiency of separating and concentrating carbon dioxide from the exhaust of natural gas-fueled power turbines, in coming one to two years.
In the next phase, they will comprehensively test the technology for another one to two years in a small-scale pilot project before integrating it in a larger-scale pilot facility.
Swarup added: "We are continually researching technologies that have an ability to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
"Most solutions that can make an impact of the scale that is required are not found overnight. Our research with FuelCell Energy will be conducted methodically to ensure that all paths toward viability are explored."
In April, FuelCell Energy had secured a $25m long term loan from Hercules Capital to support the development of fuel cell projects.
Image: FuelCell Energy’s 59 MW Fuel Cell Park in South Korea claimed to largest in the world. Photo courtesy of FuelCell Energy, Inc.