FAQs
Frequently asked questions
Below you'll find answers to the questions we get asked most about carbon capture and our solutions.
Common customer questions
Will your carbon capture technology work with my flue gas?
Carbon Clean’s technology works most effectively with a CO2 concentration of 2.5-25% and low pressure in the feed gas. The system will require removal of sulphur, particulate, and other trace impurities before capturing the CO2. The system will require a source of heat, cooling, electricity, and water as utilities.
What is the total cost of carbon capture?
The cost per tonne will vary depending on the project – for example, the flue gas composition and the carbon capture rate required by the client. We have achieved $40 per tonne of CO2 captured, this includes the power required to drive the process.
Our next generation technology CycloneCC™ will reduce CapEx and OpEx by up to 50%, driving down the cost of carbon capture – a cost that is well below the current EU carbon price and makes the economic case for CCUS undeniable. We’re targeting hitting $30 per tonne by 2025, achieved through scaling the manufacture of our fully modular, pre-fabricated units – CycloneCC.
What scope can your company take on?
Carbon Clean offers a range of advanced industry leading technologies and services, from carbon capture technology license and solvent supply, a full process design package (PDP) and proprietary equipment to end-to-end systems. In collaboration with our partners, we can design, build, finance, and operate carbon capture, providing Carbon Capture as a Service (CCaaS) to industry.
What is your company’s operating experience?
Carbon Clean's expert engineers have over 230 years of combined experience in designing and operating CO2 capture systems all over the globe – 44 sites with over 30,000 operating hours, capturing over 1.4 million tonnes of CO2. Headquartered in London, UK with offices in India, Spain, and the US we are always close by.
How do you differ from established carbon capture technology suppliers?
Carbon Clean is a specialist in CO2 capture but with the capacity to support across the full CCUS value chain. Using our invaluable experience, we can advise on the feasibility of an overall project, including process integration, downstream applications, and partnerships for CCU and CCS commercialisation. We’re focused on achieving the lowest physical footprint and cost per tonne of carbon capture, with the flexibility to engage on a wide range of customer requirements.
CycloneCC™ modular solution
What is CycloneCC™?
CycloneCC™ is a fully modular compact carbon capture technology that is set to disrupt the carbon capture sector.
It uses a breakthrough combination of two process intensification technologies: rotating packed beds (RPBs) and amine promoted buffer salt solvent (APBS-CDRMax®). Both are well-established technologies, but when utilised together they ensure CycloneCC™ is more efficient than conventional carbon capture methods, reducing costs while matching the performance.
Its fully engineered standardised designs facilitate scalability and reduce equipment size and overall cost of carbon capture by up to 50%. CycloneCC™ provides a complete solution for industrial carbon capture through pre-tested fabricated modules that reduce schedule and safety concerns during installation. Read our CycloneCC™: Introducing the world's smallest industrial carbon capture technology eBook to learn more.
What do you mean by 'modular solution'?
Our modular technology is designed, pre-fabricated at our workshop, skid-mounted and delivered to your site. After delivery, the modular solution can be installed and commissioned, so you can start capturing carbon. This allows you to scale the on-site installation sequentially as you grow and gives the benefit of cost reduction because it is modular, pre-fabricated, and has been designed many times.
In which industries can CycloneCC™ be used?
CycloneCC™ is designed for heavy industries, especially those with small to mid-size emission point sources, such as steel, cement, energy from waste, refineries, and chemicals where space is limited, and cost has a big impact on the bottom line.
Can CycloneCC™ be used to capture CO2 on merchant vessels and offshore platforms?
We plan to deploy CycloneCC™ onboard vessels and offshore platforms.
When will CycloneCC™ be available?
CycloneCC™ has been successfully pilot tested at 1 TPD and is currently being commercialised at 10 TPD and 100 TPD with select partners, including CEMEX and Veolia, for technology deployment partner roll out by summer 2022 and market scale up in 2023.
We are also working with CEMEX on a 100 TPD FEED study at its plant in Rüdersdorf, Germany. The project will use CycloneCC™ technology to capture 100 TPD of CO2, before increasing the CO2 capture by an additional 300 TPD.
What space savings does CycloneCC™ deliver?
The largest components in a post-combustion amine system are the absorber and regenerator columns. CycloneCC™ brings an order of magnitude reduction in these dimensions through its rotating packed bed (RPB). With the intensified solvent that also enables overall system dimension reduction, CycloneCC™ plot space is reduced up to 50% compared to a traditional MEA solvent system.
What capacity will CycloneCC™ be able to deliver in terms of TPD?
CycloneCC™ will be available in 10 - 100 - 300 TPD standard design capacities – you can scale up sequentially to have multiple modular solution to meet your decarbonisation needs.
Does CycloneCC™ use the same solvent as your conventional solutions?
CycloneCC™ uses the same family of APBS high performing solvents. The viscosity is adjusted for solvent performance within the high gravity environment of a rotating machine. CycloneCC™ therefore provides process intensification from both our proprietary solvent chemistry and centrifugal force from the rotating packed bed.
What are the performance characteristics of CycloneCC™?
CycloneCC™ testing to date has indicated that the technology will perform to the same levels as a traditional plant design, with a reduced physical footprint and cost profile - increasing value for our customers.
Is there an additional electrical duty for CycloneCC™ given the need for RPB motors?
The additional electrical duty from the RPB motors can be offset by the reduced pumping duty, since we no longer need to pump solvent to the heights required for the conventional absorber columns.
Carbon capture business models
What are the business models that will make carbon capture more accessible?
A Decarb Connect market survey, Scaling up CCUS – market insights, found that 41% of respondents are most interested in a fully funded CCUS model (BOO contract), while 59% prefer a mix of funded and owned CCUS equipment (BOOT contract). With no respondents choosing an option for an outright equipment sale, this is an important signal that confirms the likely future demand for full supply chain services, such as Carbon Capture as a Service (CCaaS).
Does Carbon Clean provide a full chain carbon capture service?
We've developed a Carbon Capture as a Service (CCaaS) model that provides customers with a streamlined and simple means of capturing carbon – with payment for tonnes of carbon captured and all aspects of the service delivered to a client. Through strategic partnerships across the supply chain and Carbon Clean’s modular technology, customers can finance CCUS projects over a longer period, start their decarbonisation journeys today and progressively scale up to achieve their emissions targets over time.
Utilisation and storage of captured CO2
What are the use cases for captured carbon dioxide?
Captured CO2 can be reused in several different ways including producing carbon neutral fuels and chemicals. Companies can repurpose captured carbon through the circular carbon economy by selling it back into the market, enabling producers to keep their costs low while making substantial progress towards global net zero objectives. Read our Circular Carbon Economy eBook to learn more.
What will happen to the CO2 that is captured?
This depends on many things, primarily access to CO2 storage networks, utilities, other local industries, and the local CO2 demand.
What role does carbon capture have within hydrogen?
Carbon capture is an essential part of growing the hydrogen market and decarbonising its production. By utilising carbon capture, we can produce low-carbon hydrogen and play an important role within the circular carbon economy. Hydrogen and industrially captured CO2 can be utilised to produce alternative fuels, which can be used to decarbonise hard-to-abate transport sectors, such as marine or aviation.