Reducing CO2 in flue gases

Recent technological developments have made it realistic to use fossil fuels to generate heat and electricity without CO2 emissions, or with marginal emissions only. DONG Energy is joining forces with a large number of European partners to participate in a project aimed at developing technology that can absorb CO2 from flue gases. The project is called CASTOR and funded in part by the EU.

The challenge is to find the absorbent
Capturing CO2 from flue gases is not a difficult process. The challenge is to find a so-called absorbent that can absorb CO2 at the temperatures at which it is emitted. The temperatures required by today’s absorbents are so high that the flue gases have to be heated to allow absorption. The goal is to eliminate the costs associated with heating these gases.

CO2 may optimize oil production
The project also investigates the potential for using the captured CO2 to optimize offshore oil production. In fact, injecting CO2 into mature oil fields can increase the percentage of recoverable oil.

Solution to more than one problem
The technology thus has the potential of reducing CO2 emissions from coal-fired electricity- and heat-generating plants as well as increasing offshore oil production.