ExxonMobil and FuelCell Energy said Thursday they plan to test their fuel cell-based carbon capture technology at the James M. Barry Electric Generating Station in Alabama. The plant is a 2.7-gigawatt mixed-use coal and gas station operated by Alabama Power. “The fuel cell carbon capture solution we are advancing with ExxonMobil could be a game-changer in affordably reducing carbon dioxide emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants globally,” FuelCell Energy President and CEO Chip Bottone said in a press release.
The carbonate fuel cell capture process holds the potential to reduce the costs of carbon capture, specifically for natural gas-fired generation, according to FuelCell. “The [direct fuel cell] stack acts as a carbon purification membrane, transferring CO2 from the air stream (where it is very dilute) to the fuel exhaust stream, where it is more concentrated, allowing the CO2 to be easily and affordably removed for sequestration or industrial use,” FuelCell’s website says.
Knowledge gathered from the pilot test will help the companies in designing a potential future stand-alone pilot plant for testing at a larger scale. “The world’s growing need for electricity makes it critical to continue finding affordable, scalable ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants to mitigate the risk of climate change,” Vijay Swarup, vice president for research and development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Co., said in the release. “We’re excited about the potential of this novel approach as we continue to work on the scientific fundamentals in the lab and look to prove their viability in the field.”