Our Technology
We are developing a first-of-its-kind, non-pressurized membrane that separates CO₂ in two stages, with no absorbents and no regeneration heat, at as little as 5% of the footprint of an absorption column.
Overview
Capture that fits existing plants
Aqualung Carbon Capture offers a CO₂ capture solution that separates CO₂ using an environmentally friendly process that easily fits into existing industrial facilities. The CO₂ is captured in two stages: the first is bulk separation, and the second refines its purity.
Stage 1 & 2
Bulk separation, then purity
The first stage removes most of the CO₂ from the flue gas. The second refines the stream to the purity needed for transport, storage or utilization.
The membrane
Hollow fibers with fixed and mobile carriers
Aqualung Carbon Capture uses highly efficient hollow-fiber membranes coated with a thin polymer layer that preferentially targets CO₂ with the help of water. Within this layer are amine groups, some fixed and some mobile.
The water
As the name suggests
As the name Aqualung suggests, the technology uses the water vapor present in the flue gas, which is usually regarded as an impurity.
The result
A purified CO₂ stream
CO₂ reacts with these carriers and the other gases do not react, resulting in a purified CO₂ stream.
Alongside our valued customers and partners, we seek to deploy a clean, commercial and low-cost carbon capture solution to the world.
Benefits of Aqualung Carbon Capture
Low complexity and environmentally friendly
No toxic additives or absorbents means significantly lower operating risk and lower maintenance costs over time. It also avoids the logistics and costs of sourcing highly specialized absorbents.
Highly efficient
Specialized coatings make the membrane remarkably more efficient than the current standard, establishing Aqualung Carbon Capture as a market leader for carbon capture performance.
Highly favorable energy balance
The Aqualung Carbon Capture system saves substantial energy costs compared with other membrane or absorbent-based systems, as it requires zero absorbents or associated regeneration energy.
Fully scalable
The modular “Lego technology” can cost-effectively capture carbon even at small scale (<100,000 tpa) and at low CO₂ concentration. This unlocks whole new markets, representing 85% of CO₂ emitters.
Highly compact
With down to 5% of the footprint of an absorption column, the Aqualung Carbon Capture system can fit into existing plants where space is at a premium, without major modifications to the exhaust structure or existing plant.
Research partnership
Aqualung Carbon Capture is honored to have NTNU as its R&D partner. We continue to forge new partnerships with other research institutes to remain at the cutting edge of carbon capture technology.
Equipped for commercial scale.
A joint development agreement with Nitto Denko, one of the world’s largest hollow-fiber manufacturers, gives Aqualung Carbon Capture the capacity to deliver at commercial scale and speeds up our route to market. A second agreement, with Nittobo, is developing next-generation polymer materials for our membranes.
With our strategic partners and investors, we aim to offer CO₂ capture as a service, from the installed Aqualung Carbon Capture unit through to sequestration or utilization.
“SigmaRoc has evaluated various carbon capture technologies to meet our ambitious decarbonization targets. The Aqualung technology is well suited to the lime industry due to the modularity, small footprint and cost. Aqualung has been a great collaboration partner for the Köping kiln pilot and scale-up project. We look forward to continuing to work with them as the technology matures.”
Martin Bains
Group Industrial Director, SigmaRoc