Honeywell and University of Texas at Austin to develop CCS technology

Honeywell will leverage the University of Texas at Austin’s proprietary advanced solvent technology to create a new offering targeted at power, steel, cement and other industrial plants to lower emissions generated from combustion flue gases in new or existing units. The solution provides these sectors with an additional tool to help meet regulatory requirements and sustainability goals.

Honeywell has committed to achieve carbon neutrality in its operations and facilities by 2035. This new carbon capture technology builds on the company's track record of sharply reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of its operations and facilities as well as its decades-long history of innovation to help its customers meet their environmental and social goals. About half of Honeywell's new product introduction research and development investment is directed toward products that improve environmental and social outcomes for customers.

The licensing arrangement with the University of Texas at Austin expands Honeywell's leading carbon capture technology portfolio. At present, 15 million tpy of CO₂ is being captured and used in storage/utilidation applications through the company’s CO₂ solutions process expertise. Honeywell currently has the capacity to capture 40 million tpy through its installed projects worldwide².

The University of Texas at Austin’s patented solution utilises an advanced solvent, which enables VO₂ to be captured at a lower cost through greater efficiency using smaller equipment, creating viable project economics today under current CO₂ policy frameworks in North America and Europe.^1,3 For a typical power plant (650 MW capacity), applying advanced solvent carbon-capture technology would enable the capture of about 3.4 million tpy of CO₂, equivalent to removing nearly 735 000 cars from the road each year.⁴

This point source CO₂ removal technology can be retrofitted within existing plants or included as part of a new installation. In this process, CO₂ is absorbed into an amine solvent and then sent to a stripper where CO₂ is separated from the solvent. This CO₂ is then compressed for geological sequestration or used for other purposes. With thousands of power and industrial plants around the world, the opportunity for significant emissions reduction is enormous.

In 2020, CCUS projects worldwide were capturing and storing/using 40 million tpy of CO₂, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).⁶ In order to align with the IEA Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS), which demonstrates a pathway to limit global temperature rise by less than 1.65ºC, CCUS project capacity must increase more than 20 times to enable capture of 840 million tpy of CO₂ by 2030.⁷

1. Lower cost of CO₂ capture based on comparing estimated capital and operating costs of this solution against other conventional amine solvents in same applications. CO₂ pricing considers current policies of US$50/t tax credit (US per IRS Section 45Q for permanent storage) and US$60/t (UK and Europe – approximate averages from August 2021 thru country/regional Emission Trading Systems and as reported by IHS Markit).
2. Includes capacity of deployed Honeywell technology (membranes and chemical and physical solvents) in installed projects enabling CO₂ capture from gas streams, of which 15 million t of the captured CO₂ is being utilised for enhanced oil recovery annually.
3. Internally developed information based on pilot-scale test campaigns at UT-Austin pilot plant and National Carbon Capture Center using flue gas from both coal and natural gas combined cycle sources and capturing 90% of CO₂.
4. Emissions reductions consider a 650 MW coal power plant with 85% annual operating rate with flue gas carbon capture, achieving overall 90% CO₂ emission capture from the retrofitted unit. CO2 emission equivalency based on EPA conversion factors (https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator).
5. ‘Significant reductions’ refers to 90% overall CO₂ capture, as demonstrated in pilot-scale test campaigns at the University of Texas at Austin pilot plant and National Carbon Capture Center using flue gas from both coal and natural gas combined cycle sources. CCUS power plants operating today capture around 90% of the CO₂ from flue gas (https://www.iea.org/reports/ccus-in-power).
6. IEA CCUS Technology Report – April 2021 (https://www.iea.org/reports/about-ccus).
7. IEA Report Extract: CCUS in the transition to net zero emissions (https://www.iea.org/reports/ccus-in-clean-energy-transitions/ccus-in-the-transition-to-net-zero-emissions).