Nov-2024

Carbon capture solutions to help meet net zero goal (ERTC 2024)

Action must be taken to address the climate crisis, and carbon capture is key to lowering emissions and driving business outcomes.

Nathan Lozanoski
Honeywell UOP

Article Summary

Transforming the global economy to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century is essential to avoid the dangerous effects of climate change. Carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) is an important lever in limiting the global rise in temperature to less than 1.5ºC. Without it, in fact, it will be practically impossible to reach shared climate goals while achieving business outcomes.

Carbon capture is a broad, complex, and evolving field, and it is urgent that industries implement and scale their climate solutions. CCUS usage needs to grow 120 times by 2050 for nations to achieve their net-zero commitments, and 70-100 new projects per year are required to get there. For successful carbon capture projects to go forward, we need ready-now technologies, a price on carbon, and infrastructure and permitting to move and permanently sequester CO₂. Many companies and governments have set bold carbon-neutral pledges for as early as 2030 – a deadline that is rapidly approaching.

To reach those goals, companies need to consider CCUS as a viable option in their sustainability plans because the technologies are ready now, have policy support, and can significantly reduce emissions. Carbon capture capacity must increase more than 20 times to enable the capture of 840 million metric tons per year of CO₂ by 2030 to meet global emission goals.

Custom Solutions for a Universal Problem
As urgent as it is, there are significant challenges in CCUS. National and corporate net-zero policy ambitions are not always clearly defined, with many legal, regulatory, and financial frameworks still being established. It is difficult to rapidly create a full ecosystem that embodies all elements of carbon capture amid so much uncertainty.

The transition is especially important for carbon-intensive markets such as power, steel, cement, refining, petrochemicals, hydrogen, and natural gas processing. Reducing environmental impact has been difficult, and technology is continuously evolving and improving.

Honeywell UOP can be your trusted partner in finding the best solutions. We have a full suite of pre- and post-combustion technologies that can be custom-engineered. Our support spans the project life cycle from conceptual and feasibility studies through front-end engineering design (FEED), commissioning start-up, and services during operational life. We can deliver technologies through basic engineering packages as well as modular solutions. CCUS is a key lever in reducing global emissions, accounting for 15% of overall emissions reductions in the IEA sustainable development scenario.

Solutions
Solutions that can make a difference are chemical and physical solvents, adsorbents, and cryogenics and membranes. Honeywell UOP has a variety of solutions tailored for individual customers in a wide range of industries. Our team of experts can work with you to determine the best solution to meet your CO₂ emissions goals. Industries emit CO₂ in a wide range of concentrations due to the variety of fuels and processes used in their operations. Honeywell UOP’s portfolio of carbon capture solutions can be tailored for project needs such as plot space requirements, utilities consumption, removal efficiency rates, and CO₂ product specifications.

Industries
Honeywell UOP’s CO₂ solutions can help make an impact within a wide range of industries where decarbonisation has been a challenge:

Cement
We offer solvent, PSA, PSA + cryogenic, and cryogenic CO₂ capture options, which can be tailored to your needs based on:
· Varying CO₂ concentrations (normal operation >oxygen enrichment)
· Utility sourcing (all-electric or natural gas)
· Plot space constraints
· Level of automation.

Our PSA and cryogenic solutions are all-electric and highly automated. They can produce a high-purity liquid product ready for transport, and synergies between them can lead to cost savings. Honeywell UOP’s Advanced Solvent Carbon Capture (ASCC) enables more efficient capture of lower CO₂ concentration cement kiln flue gas and can be made fully electric to meet utility availability.

Power
Power generation accounts for roughly 40% of global CO₂ emissions, and ASCC provides an effective path to reduce the environmental impact of generators.
Power and utilities generate large volumes of low-concentration flue gas for which ASCC enables a lower cost of capture. ASCC reduces parasitic energy loads, with a patented heat exchange design that leads to lower energy consumption for solvent regeneration.
ASCC is backed by:
· 20+ years of ongoing development and testing
· 8,500 hours of testing at the National Carbon Capture Center on flue gas range 2-15%
· Honeywell’s extensive warranty and performance guarantees
· Honeywell’s expertise, having designed 1,200+ solvent-based units.

Refining, petrochemical, and gas processing
A full portfolio of carbon capture technologies from Honeywell UOP serves the refining, petrochemical, and gas processing industries. We can support decarbonisation efforts through new builds or retrofits with a unique perspective on optimal integrations with your existing process units. We offer multiple technologies that can easily be integrated into current operations. Our solutions and services provide a range of options for multiple emissions points looking to efficiently and economically lower the carbon intensity of the fuels and products they produce.

Hydrogen and derivatives
Honeywell UOP’s integrated solutions enable a tailored approach to carbon intensity, hydrogen purity, and other project requirements, delivering proven, reliable, and flexible solutions.

As a leading supplier of hydrogen pressure swing adsorption (PSA) solutions to the market, we can optimise to meet your hydrogen purity and recovery targets. Designs are capable of meeting 99.99% hydrogen purity for a variety of end-use applications.² We have sold more than 1,150 PSA units in services such as hydrogen purification, ethylene off-gas recovery, refinery off-gas recovery, ammonia, coke oven gas, gasification, methanol off-gas, and syngas purification.

PSA units can also be deployed in carbon capture, ammonia cracking purification, and green hydrogen purification:
· Carbon capture PSAs are typically utilised on hydrogen PSA tail gases where a low Capex solution is needed
· Ammonia cracking PSAs are used in purifying hydrogen from ammonia that has been cracked when used as an energy carrier
· Green hydrogen PSAs can purify hydrogen to fuel cell requirements after production from an electrolyser.

Pulp and paper
Pulp and paper are unique opportunities for generating carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits, as most feedstock originates from biomass or renewable sources. This supports additional revenue streams to make commercially viable projects. Challenges can arise from contaminants in the flue gases of black liquor boilers, but with appropriate pretreatment, ASCC is a viable technology option.

Industrial and manufacturing
Industrial operations need to address large and predictable amounts of low-concentration carbon emissions in a cost-efficient manner. Many industrial and chemical processes burn fossil or bio-based fuels to generate the necessary heat for process reactions. Carbon capture and oxy-fuel on fired heaters and boilers are part of a multi-component strategy for mitigating difficult-to-abate emissions, providing a pathway for lower carbon products we use everyday.

Steel
Honeywell UOP is a single point of contact for carbon capture and hydrogen recovery solutions for the steel industry. Steel production represents 7% of global CO₂ emissions, and as more infrastructure is built, steel consumption will continue to grow.³ Carbon capture provides opportunities for integrated steelmaking to significantly reduce blast furnace gas emissions while making plans to transition to electric arc furnace (EAF) or hydrogen- based direct reduced iron (DRI).

In some cases when treating steel production flue gases, hydrogen can be recovered and sold as a valuable coproduct, driving improved economics in project development. With these technologies in our portfolio, we are uniquely positioned for an overall integrated flow scheme of carbon capture and hydrogen recovery.

Multiple technologies are viable for carbon capture, such as ASCC, PSA + Ortloff Cryogenic Fractionation, and standalone Ortloff Fractionation, each with tradeoffs. In addition, Honeywell has a portfolio of solutions that offers flexibility and the ability to capture further value by recovering hydrogen as a fuel.

Honeywell UOP Commitment to Innovation
Honeywell UOP has a track record of innovation, a broad portfolio of carbon capture technologies, and decades of experience helping industry leaders move towards a lower carbon footprint. To help reach your climate goals, we can deliver a variety of CCUS solutions, tailored for individual customers from a variety of industries:
· Honeywell technology is capturing more than 35% of the world’s captured CO₂.
· 5,700 sustainability projects completed since 2004, with more than $100 million in annualised savings.
· Approximately 60% of R&D spend is directed towards environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-oriented outcomes.
· We are committed to achieving carbon neutrality in our facilities and operations by 2035.

This short article originally appeared in the 2024 ERTC Newspaper, which you can VIEW HERE