When completed, the stainless steel pilot plant will serve as an educational tool for the undergraduates as it provides first-hand information on carbon capture technology and how it works. The students will also be trained to operate the plant, acquiring valuable hands-on experience.
The pilot plant will be one of only two carbon capture pilot plants in Britain. The four-story high facility will be housed inside the ACE building, home of the college’s department of chemical engineering and chemical technology.
Construction of the plant is expected to be completed by mid-2011.
“Carbon capture and storage technology could play a vital role in the future in helping [Britain] cut its greenhouse gas emissions,” said Andrew Livingston, head of the department of chemical engineering.
Carbon capture and storage technology filters harmful emissions through chemical solutions called amines that capture the carbon dioxide so that it can be transported and stored deep underground in depleted oil and gas reservoirs.
Existing coal- and gas-fired power plants can be outfitted with this technology to capture the harmful greenhouse gas before it is emitted into the atmosphere.
“The construction of this carbon capture pilot project in Imperial signifies the college’s ongoing commitment to training the next generation of researchers who will play a pivotal part in making our country environmentally sustainable,” noted Mr. Livingston.
Imperial College has Britain’s largest carbon capture and storage research program, which aims to develop an integrated approach to the technology.
Aside from their own research program, the college is also part of a $70 million, 10-year research partnership with Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Science and Technology Park and Shell to develop better methods of recovering oil and gas, while reducing the levels of carbon dioxide emissions.
The research partnership is looking into geological storage for captured carbon in places such as the sandstone oil reservoirs in the North Sea and carbonate reservoirs in the Middle East.
