Kiewit Corporation, working with Ansaldo Energia, has completed the FEL-2 Pre-FEED study of Karbon Utility. The study modelled three host cases — gas-fired power, coal-fired power, and cement or steel manufacture — and found the Karbon Process technically feasible in all three, with no known fatal flaws. It found Karbon competitive with amine capture on capital cost, noting that the process generates its own electricity and steam, requires no steam from the host plant, and does not derate host power generation.
DNV has granted Approval in Principle for the Karbon 6Lobe multi-cargo tank, based on a design prepared and submitted by Korea Maritime Consultants. At 28,700 m³ it is the largest pressurised C-type tank yet designed. It alternates between cargoes of liquid CO₂ and LNG or ethane.
Karbon CO₂ capture operates independently of the host plant, diverting the exhaust gas before it enters the stack. Host exhaust gas is compressed cost-effectively in gas turbines. Karbon Utility, the utility-scale process, uses Ansaldo Energia turbines: a modified AE94.2 as compressor and expander, and a standard AE64.3 as combustion turbine generator. The turbines, and the generator they drive, supply all the heat and power the capture process requires, and in most cases the power to compress the captured CO₂ for pipeline transport. The process draws no steam and no electricity from the host plant, and does not derate it. CO₂ is then extracted with the Hot Potassium Carbonate ("HPC") process — inexpensive, non-toxic, inert and stable, in industrial service for over sixty years, and highly efficient when the incoming exhaust gas is compressed. The extracted CO₂ is over 99% pure, and suitable for sequestration, industrial use and oil recovery.
The process is deployed in independent modular trains, each with its gas turbines, HPC unit, heat exchangers and power generator. One Karbon Utility train treats 535 kg/s of exhaust gas — the output of a 400 to 500 MW power plant, or of a steel or cement works producing 2 to 6 million tonnes a year. One train and captures 1.8 to 5 million tonnes of CO₂ a year, depending on the concentration in the exhaust. Trains operate side by side for greater capacity: four trains capture about 12 million tonnes a year from an 1,800 MW coal-fired power station. A train occupies approximately 85 × 150 metres, subject to site layout.
Karbon captures 95% of the CO₂ in the exhaust it treats from coal-fired power, cement and steel, and 92% from gas-fired power with exhaust gas recirculation. Because the process imports no energy, its carbon footprint is all-inclusive: there is no secondary CO₂ from purchased power or steam. Gas-fired generation with Karbon and exhaust gas recirculation operates at about 39 gCO₂/kWh, within the 100 gCO₂/kWh threshold for sustainable electricity in the EU Taxonomy. Coal-fired generation operates at about 160 gCO₂/kWh, a reduction of 81%, with a route to about 49 gCO₂/kWh as exhaust gas recirculation is extended to coal.
Karbon Compact captures CO₂ from smaller industrial plants — cement, steel, chemicals and refining — and from large engines. It uses a separate compressor and expander in place of the large gas turbine, treats 25 to 350 kg/s of exhaust gas, and captures up to about 1 million tonnes of CO₂ a year. Karbon Marine captures CO₂ from ship engines, on existing vessels or newbuilds, at up to about 200,000 tonnes a year per ship. The CO₂ is captured and liquefied at sea, and offloaded in port for storage or use. On LNG-fuelled engines it also eliminates methane slip.
Karbon MultiLobe tanks carry liquid CO₂ and alternate with LNG, LPG, ethane and ammonia, which require markedly different carriage conditions. The 6Lobe tank holds 28,700 m³ and has Approval in Principle from DNV; the 4Lobe holds up to 20,000 m³. Karbon Carriers built around these tanks range from Aframax and Suezmax combination carriers, which deliver oil or liquefied gas and return with liquid CO₂ instead of sailing an empty leg, to a very large carrier of 258,000 m³.
Karbon technology is protected by seven interrelated patent families. Five cover the capture process at any scale and any CO₂ concentration, granted or pending across Europe, the United States, China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and South Africa. Karbon's patents cover the pressurisation and energy cycle that make HPC efficient on flue gas, not the solvent itself, which is off-patent. Two further families cover the multi-cargo tanks, granted in the United States and Norway, with PCT applications pending.
The Karbon Process suits most point sources of exhaust gas, from 25 to 535 kg/s containing 4 to 25% CO₂. McKinsey estimates that more than 25,000 industrial plants worldwide could be decarbonised with carbon capture. Karbon works with developers, utilities and principal investors, and licences its IP to industry partners for particular countries or projects. Karbon is now selecting host plants with which to complete a full FEL-3 EPC FEED study for the first Karbon plant.
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