Greentech Lead America: Akermin, a developer of the most
energy and cost efficient system for carbon dioxide management, has partnered with
Southern Company Services to install and operate a pilot plant
incorporating Akermin’s novel biocatalyst delivery system at the National
Carbon Capture Center.
Akermin is designing a pilot plant to demonstrate the
performance of its biocatalyst delivery system working with carbonate chemistry
for high efficiency carbon dioxide capture. The two-year project is partially
funded through a grant from the US Department of Energy.
“This project signifies Akermin’s transition from
laboratory testing and development to field pilot testing and demonstration
marking a key step towards commercialization of our technology,”
said Barry Blackwell, Akermin president and CEO.
The project allows Akermin to demonstrate sustained
biocatalyst performance over an extended period when capturing carbon dioxide
from the flue gas of a coal-fired power plant. The project will be
commissioned in the 4th quarter of this year.
Akermin will collect data to validate system performance,
including: biocatalyst performance, energy consumption, carbon dioxide removal
efficiency, capture of residual SOx and NOx emissions, by-product quality for
potential resale and other parameters during the pilot period.
“The results from this pilot project will help to
prove the viability of our technology to capture carbon dioxide from industrial
processes and accelerate development of commercial partnerships and future
demonstration projects covering multiple market
applications,” Blackwell added.
Akermin’s biocatalyst delivery system incorporates the
use of an enzyme that is being supplied by Novozymes, S.A.; a multi-national
enzyme supplier, based in Denmark. The pilot plant is sized to capture
over 90 percent of incoming carbon dioxide.