Membrane-based carbon capture pilot under construction at Wyoming coal plant

US-based firm Membrane Technology and Research (MTR) Carbon Capture has begun construction of a pilot project to capture CO2 from Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s Dry Fork coal-fired power plant.

MTR Carbon Capture will operate out of the Wyoming Integrated Test Center (ITC), a carbon capture and utilization testing facility at the Dry Fork plant in Gillette, Wyoming.

The testing facility allows CO2 capture technology companies access to the flue gas that would otherwise be released from the plant. 

MTR Carbon Capture will use its proprietary Polaris polymeric membrane to capture more than 150 metric tons of CO2 each day at Dry Fork Station.

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Membranes perform a passive separation of CO2 using a difference in pressures provided by blowers and pumps. The company says its capture process uses no chemicals, requires little water and is driven entirely by electricity, making its approach to carbon capture cleaner than conventional solvent-based carbon capture methods.

When operational in 2024, MTR Carbon Capture says the project will be the largest capture plant based on clean membrane technology in the world.

The project is part of the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) large-scale pilot carbon capture programme. The programme supports the development of technologies aimed at improving the efficiency, effectiveness, costs, emissions reductions and environmental performance of carbon capture.

Originally published on power-eng.com