55,000 TPY pilot testing of MTR’s membrane-based post-combustion CO2 capture process

Membranes are a very compelling capture technology that have the benefits of no hazardous chemical use or emissions, no steam usage, the ability to co-capture water, simple operation and are extremely modular to reduce costs.

MTR is currently commercializing our Polaris™ membrane capture technology. In this presentation, we will describe our current United States Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored Large Pilot project which encompasses the design, build, and operation of a 150 tonne CO2/day capture plant (DOE project DE-FE0031587). The Large Pilot represents an approximate 10-fold scale-up from MTR’s previous small pilot membrane system field tests. We are in the final phase III of this project, with full commissioning and operations from December 2024. In Phase I, which began in 2019, the overall feasibility of the capture process was determined, and the host site was identified. In Phase II, a Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) study was conducted, a schedule for system construction and operation was prepared, and permits were obtained.

The Large Pilot has been installed and being operated at the Wyoming Integrated Test Center (WITC) in Gillette, Wyoming. The WITC is a dedicated post-combustion carbon capture test facility attached to Basin Electric’s Dry Fork Station (DFS); a single unit, coal fired power plant.

This presentation will describe all Large Pilot process elements that are part of MTR’s full-scale commercial process design such as the flue gas pretreatment and conditioning; two stages of membrane unit operations; and a CO2 purification unit. Just as important, the Large Pilot will also feature MTR’s containerized membrane skids and planar membrane modules, both in their commercial form factor.

Construction work began in May 2023 with a groundbreaking ceremony and continued through to October 2024. The Large Pilot is the largest membrane-based capture plant in the world. The results from Large Pilot testing will be used to refine the MTR CO2 capture process for a potential full-scale demonstration plant at DFS as well as other industrial sources such as waste to energy plants, cement plants and steel plants.