MHI Launches Verification Project for CO2 Capture/Storage from Coal Plants in US

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries announced on September 14, 2012, that it has started storing carbon dioxide (CO2) underground as part of a verification test for CO2 capture and storage at coal-fired plants, which the company has been conducting jointly with Southern Company, a major US power company. It is the first project of its kind, as well as one of the largest in scale to implement continuous capture/storage of 500 tons of CO2 per day from a coal-fired power plant.

The verification plant has been built at Southern Company's Barry power plant, located in Alabama. The plant's CO2 capture capacity is 150,000 tons a year with capture rate of over 90 percent. Taking advantage of a process utilizing an absorbing solution co-developed by Mitsubishi and The Kansai Electric Power Company, the verification plant is more energy efficient than other techniques.

After being captured and compressed, CO2 is injected into an aquifer 3000 to 3400 meters under the Citronelle Dome located 19.3 kilometers west of the power plant. They have launched CO2 storage on state approval and the storage rate has already reached 500 tons a day. It is part of Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership Phase III program initiated by the US Department of Energy.

Mitsubishi is in charge of the overall schematic design, engineering, equipment supply and technical support during the verification operation. The company hopes that the project will pave the way for commercialization of CO2 capture technology.

Related JFS article:
Toshiba to Verify CO2 Separation/Capture Technology at Coal Power Plant