Decarbonisation Technology May 2025 Issue

Results Captivate Technology has worked with several emitters in New Zealand to demonstrate the capabilities of MUF-16 in a VPSA process at industrial sites, as shown in Table 1 . The adsorbent has been tested at six different industrial locations between 2023 and 2024. Testing has occurred on a demonstration scale with a simple, two-column VPSA unit, each holding one kilogram of MUF-16. The unit receives a small slipstream of emissions from the flue stack. The mobile demonstration unit is shown in Figure 3. Straightforward gas pre-conditioning (cooling, dehumidification, and particulate removal) occurs before the emission stream enters the VPSA columns containing MUF-16. Notably, the adsorbent was proven to withstand contaminants such as NOx, SOx, and H₂S, which do not impede the carbon capture process. Results consistently demonstrated a clean emissions stream, free of CO₂ with no adverse effects on MUF-16 and no change in the effectiveness of CO₂ separation over the test period. This is a very promising set of results and is a springboard for scale-up to demonstration and commercial scale units. The field tests have proven that MUF-16 is a highly effective and robust adsorbent for carbon capture. The following sectors and applications are suitable for MUF-16 and Captivate Technology: • Biogas upgrading : VPSA systems for biogas upgrading to renewable natural gas (RNG) are commercially available. Captivate has conducted process calculations and used its bespoke

third of the energy needed to capture one tonne of CO₂ using chemical absorption, the incumbent process employed to separate CO₂ from a mixture of gases ( Hong, 2022 ). The combination of MUF-16 in a VPSA process provides very low Capex and Opex costs for industrial users, as demonstrated by the commercial costs of analogous modular carbon capture systems. This opens up carbon capture beyond large-scale applications that require economies of scale, significant Capex, and government support. Captivate Technology provides a pathway for modular carbon capture that can be applied economically on a small or large scale. In addition, the adsorbent has a low affinity for nitrogen, methane, and other gases, which translates into a high purity for the captured CO₂. Its durability and longevity stem from its tolerance of impurities, such as water vapour, steam, H₂S, NOx, and SOx. It is compatible with well-established engineering processes, such as pressure swing adsorption (PSA). MUF-16 maintains its performance over multiple adsorption and desorption cycles with real-world flue gases. An investigation into its lifecycle assessment has also been conducted. This includes experimental work that has shown it can be easily restored to pristine condition at the end of its life (expected after several years of continuous use), avoiding landfill or incineration.

The combination of MUF-16 and VPSA provides a process technology for point- source CO₂ capture from a wide variety of waste emissions sources. This includes post-combustion emissions from industry (such as power generation), commercial, residential, and transportation sectors, cement and steel industries, biogas upgrading, geothermal power generation, and others. Captivate Technology has also rapidly grown its capability in the optimisation of the adsorption and desorption process through multi-objective computational simulations. This enables process optimisation under any given industrial scenario and further reduces the cost of capture.

Industrial site and emission source

CO 2 ,

Impurities in emissions stream

Geothermal power station non-condensable gases

N2, O2, H2S, Hg

Fossil fuel power station steam turbine Sawmill wood waste biomass boiler

N2, O2, NOx N2, O2, NOx

Peaker plant natural gas turbine Food and beverage industry hot water gas fired boiler

N2, O2, NOx, CO

N2, O2, NOx, CO N2, O2, NOx, SOx

Cement plant

Table 1 MUF-16 demonstration sites and emissions source