UK-led research collaboration wins award for carbon capture innovation

A joint proposal by the University of Edinburgh, SINTEF of Norway, and Greece’s Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH) has been ranked top in a Europe-wide funding call and will receive €670,000 towards research into innovative carbon capture technology. The project was awarded funding by FENCO-NET, a European grouping committed to encouraging fossil energy research collaborations across international borders, and was the only of nine UK-led proposals to be awarded.

Prof Stefano Brandani, of the University of Edinburgh and member of the SCCS directorate, highlighted how the project will give the unique opportunity to combine the expertises of the research partners in material and process development. SINTEF is able to prepare advanced MOFs, which can be scaled up for bench-scale process testing. At the University of Edinburgh, new rapid screening techniques have been developed, specifically for post-combustion capture, which can be further developed through close collaboration with SINTEF. CERTH brings over 20 years of experience in the area of pressure/vacuum swing adsorption (PSA/VSA) process modelling and simulation.

The research programme will include:

  • an evaluation of innovative CO2 capture processes based on selective adsorption of CO2 in MOF adsorbents;
  • the synthesis, characterisation, formulation and evaluation of selected MOFs for vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) post-combustion capture;
  • investigation and improvement of adsorbent stability and efficiency in post-combustion carbon capture processes;
  • the modelling of mass and heat transfer kinetics to enable accurate process simulations needed to help reduce costs and energy usage associated with carbon capture units; and the optimal design and operation of VSA process at bench and industrial scale.

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