Emissions

ESG claims successful test of carbon capture water removal system

ESG Clean Energy claims its water removal system exceeded a removal rate of 90%. Water vapor has traditionally been difficult to remove during carbon capture.
ESG claims successful test of carbon capture water removal system
(Image: ESG Clean Energy.)

ESG Clean Energy, a developer of power generation and carbon capture systems, announced that the results from tests of its patented water removal system exceed a water removal rate of over 90%.

The testing took place this week at ESG’s 4 MW power generation site in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Using calibrated humidity sensors positioned at both the beginning and the end of the exhaust stream, ESG says the results exceeded the modeled forecast of 83% that was developed during the initial design phase of its carbon capture process.

“This will work to our benefit as we scale to meet the demands of fossil fuel consumption in small and large power facilities, and eventually the transportation industry,” said Nick Scuderi, president of ESG Clean Energy.

ESG has plans to build a second gas-fired plant in Holyoke. The 4.2 MW plant would also be powered by Caterpillar engines.

ESG Clean Energy says it plans on implementing its CO2 capture technology across all its planned facilities and has licensed the technology to a subsidiary of Camber Energy for all of Canada and multiple locations in the United States.

The company says its system treats the exhaust stream to remove the water vapor before it is treated for capturing CO2. The system consists of a ceramic membrane that has been incorporated into a mechanical cooling system.

There’s a problem with traditional carbon capture, ESG Clean Energy says: separting and capturing carbon dioxide from a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and water vapor can be difficult, and while some materials have been developed that can “selectively attach or react with the CO2 while letting the other gases pass by,” the water vapor remains. Water molecules interfere with the carbon capture process, ESG Clean Energy says, citing several scientific studies showing how water negatively affects CO2 capture.