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Regina firm shows off CO2 capture system

Bruce Johnstone
The Leader-Post

Wednesday, December 12, 2007


A Regina-based company is launching the world's first modular, portable carbon dioxide capture and storage system, which can be retrofitted onto existing power plants or any large industrial greenhouse gas emitter.

Called the Purenergy CCS 1000, the stand-alone system is the product of HTC Purenergy, an energy technology company utilizing technology developed at the Greenhouse Gas Technology Centre at the University of Regina.

"Solutions like the Purenergy 1000 carbon capture system, when installed in scale on one 750 megawatt power plant, will capture the CO2 equivalent of two million cars and trucks,'' said Lionel Kambeitz, chairman and CEO of HTC Purenergy.

Now all HTC Purenergy needs is a buyer for the Purenergy CCS 1000, which it hopes it will find in its home province of Saskatchewan, Kambeitz told a news conference in Regina Tuesday.

"We require the deployment of this new world-beating technology in Saskatchewan," Kambeitz said.

Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd said the province has been at the forefront of CO2 capture and storage technology in the world and praised HTC Purenergy for capitalizing on that technology.

"We're excited as a government to be part of the announcement here today,'' Boyd said, adding the province would provide assistance and support to the project.

"It's a tremendous success story for the province of Saskatchewan.''

Jim Tomkins, president of the University of Regina, said the Purenergy CCS 1000 is a good example of the collaboration between business, university and government.

"It's the right product at the right time,'' Tomkins said.

Following the news conference, Kambeitz explained that the pre-engineered, modular, transportable Purenergy CCS 1000 will reduce the cost of CO2 capture and storage.

"It takes the flue gas from a large coal-fired power plant or large industrial (GHG) emitter out of the smokestack and processes it. Two towers absorb the CO2 in a type of closed-loop solvent system.''

The solvent is then warmed up in a stripper tower and the CO2 is "flashed off'' in "99 per cent pure'' form, he said. "It's captured, compressed and either sent into enhanced oil recovery project or moved into storage.''

The modular system can capture about 1,000 tonnes per day, or the equivalent of the CO2 output of a 60-megawatt generating unit. The system could be adapted to increase CO2 capture to about 2,500 tonnes per day.

"We wanted it to be road transportable,'' Kambeitz said.

Kambeitz estimated the cost of the Purenergy CCS 1000 to be about $30 million, not including compression. "We've approached it as introductory product.''

But HTC Purenergy is also looking at building larger CO2 capture and storage units for larger power plants and industrial emitters. "We are bidding on a number of projects around the world,'' including Europe and the U.S., he added.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007