Akermin Successfully Tests Biocatalyst Delivery System at National Carbon Capture Center

Akermin announces the successful commissioning and testing of its proprietary Biocatalyst Delivery System at the National Carbon Capture Center in Wilsonville, AL. The pilot unit has operated continuously for several weeks capturing close to 90% CO₂ from flue gas with significant rate enhancement and no degradation in performance.

“These results validate our technology and our approach and support scale-up and demonstration across multiple markets,” said Barry Blackwell, President and CEO. “We are excited to achieve such excellent results with our initial field pilot test. This achievement is a testament to the hard work of the entire Akermin team. We would also like to acknowledge the unwavering support of the US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE-NETL), and our project partners and suppliers, including: Novozymes, EPIC Systems, the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC), Battelle and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). After several weeks of continuous operation, this marks the longest and largest demonstration of an enzyme-catalyzed process for CO₂ capture.”

The pilot plant will continue operations for several months with no replenishment of enzyme. The operating data provide technical and economic validation for CO₂ removal from target markets such as biogas upgrading, LNG and ammonia production and support larger-scale field pilot testing for natural gas and coal-fired power plants.

Over recent months, Akermin has developed a next generation approach using an environmentally-friendly salt solution and proprietary process scheme that enables on-line biocatalyst replacement. This solution will be demonstrated in future projects and can be applied to further reduce the cost of CO₂ emissions reduction for large-scale industrial operations and natural gas and coal-fired power plants.

Akermin welcomes inquiries from technology suppliers, project developers, financiers and industry stakeholders and is actively seeking partners to support commercialization of this technology to address the global issue of managing CO₂ emissions from industrial processes.