Natural gas is a vital energy source, and approximately 20% contains excess CO2 that must be removed to meet pipeline specifications. It is the world’s cleanest, safest, and is the most efficient energy source, with a CO₂ emission factor that is 26% lower than oil and 41% lower than coal when combusted. The only viable solution to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions is to develop carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and sequestration technologies.
MEMCO2 will build knowledge and technology to reduce emissions from natural gas exploitation. The membrane systems are compact, modular, and small weight systems being extremely suited for off- shore oil platforms deployment: CO2 capture on-site and immediate reinjection in aquifers or depleted oil reservoirs.
Our primary objective is to reduce the costs and energy of CO2 capture by developing the "next generation" membranes for CO2 removal from natural gas (reducing methane emissions and flaring) with subsequent CO2 sequestration in aquifers. This is achieved by a multidisciplinary approach involving fundamental research of novel polymers, membrane separation, process modeling and engineering.
We will investigate novel polymers for membrane preparation and test CO2 permeability and CO2/CH4 selectivity using mixed gases at high pressure in presence of water vapors similar to real natural gas and will perform process modeling for cost and process optimization.
MEMCO2 is a collaborative research project lead by SINTEF Industry (Norway) involving Norwegian University of Technology and Science (NTNU) Prof. Liyuan Deng; North Carolina State University (NCSU-USA) Prof. Richard Spontak; University of Zaragoza (UZ) Prof. Patricia Gorgojo; Institute European of Membranes (IEM-CNRS, France) Prof. Mihail Barboiu.