Firms pursue carbon capture with membranes

Abstract

Aqualung, a Norwegian start-up that wants to capture carbon with membranes, has signed Denbury, the US pipeline and enhanced-oil recovery firm, as a strategic investor. Aqualung is commercializing a carbon dioxide–capture membrane based on research from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. It uses immobilized amines and water vapor to selectively push CO 2 to the inside of hollow polymer fibers, a configuration that the company says eliminates the need to regenerate a CO 2 sorbent. Most commercial-scale carbon-capture operations are based on an aqueous amine sorbent that must be regenerated in an energy-intensive process. Aqualung is targeting all heavy transport and industry, CEO Andrew Robbins says, but he expects the first adopters to be in cement, pulp and paper, and natural gas processing. The firm is already testing its system at a Standard Lithium gas processing plant in Arkansas and is adding carbon capture to a cement kiln