Optiperm™ carbon Shows Promising Early Results for Carbon Capture

Optiperm™ carbon

Compact Membrane Systems (CMS), a pioneer in separations technology, has developed a new membrane for capturing carbon dioxide out of flue gas. This is the third addition to CMS’s Optiperm™ product portfolio (after separating olefins from paraffins and upgrading biogas) and is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Early results show promise, with the high flow membrane consistent with a $20/ton cost of carbon capture. These results position Optiperm™ carbon as more cost-effective than many alternative CO₂ capture methods and in an economically attractive range for current projects and incentives. Optiperm™ carbon will scale up on CMS’ existing Optiperm™ technology and manufacturing platform.

Why Carbon Capture?

With the sustainable energy transition in motion, it is vital to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing processes in the short term to continue to produce reliable and affordable power. A majority of the world still relies on fossil fuel technology for power and coal-fired power plants account for 30% of global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Carbon capture technology allows users to filter and sequester the CO₂ at the source and reduce emissions by up to 90%. Fouling resistant membranes hold promise for carbon capture because they can be scaled to the size of the application and require lower energy usage and operational cost than existing carbon capture technologies.

Technology Details

Optiperm™ carbon is a fluoropolymer facilitated transport membrane with antifouling properties. The initial lab results show a permeability of 4000- 6000 GPU, a 3x improvement over the industry standard. The high GPU and resistance to fouling are expected to significantly decrease the cost of carbon capture. Work is continuing to scale up the membrane on the same spiral wound platform as existing Optiperm™ products.

“We are very excited about the early performance of this membrane. CMS has been committed to creating technology that enables a cleaner energy future and I expect the Optiperm™ products to be major contributors to making that a reality. I’m looking forward to watching the team apply their scaleup experience to Optiperm™ carbon.” says Chief Technology Officer, Hannah Murnen.

Contact CMS to learn more or inquire about testing the technology.