Mobile Carbon Capture for Long-Haul Commercial Transport: Design, Integration and Results

Abstract

Decarbonization of the transport sector is an environmental priority, but poses a challenge to regulators, consumers, and industry due to the cost, conveneince, and scaleability of available technologies. Although battery electric vehicles are well-suited to reduce emissions for light-duty, short-haul, urban trips, significant challenges remain to electrification of larger, longer, and heavier applications. In this work, mobile carbon capture is presented as one possible solution to reduce emissions from trucks, trains, boats and generators which have access to CO2 distribution infrastructure. To evaluate the potential of this concept, a prototype, pilot-scale 165 kW mobile carbon capture (MCC) facility designed, built, and integrated onto the back of a Class VIII semi-truck following the typical thermal-swing absorption process employed for large stationary systems. All of the system components required for CO2 absorption, solvent regeneration, and CO2 compression and storage were integrated into available space between the truck and the trailer. Testing was conducted on an outdoor test track to verify the thermal performance of the system under real driving conditions, as well as on a laboratory chassis dynamometer to collect high precision data under steady-state conditions. With minimal refinement or optimization, the system was able to achieve a maximum 42% capture rate at 50% engine load, under highway-cruise conditions, and using only waste heat from the exhaust to drive the separation process. This exceeds the potential CO2 reductions using organic rankine cycle (ORC) technology by a wide margin—albeit with greater system size, cost and complexity. As a first-of-its kind technology demonstration of MCC for the heavy-duty sector, this work shows the potential of MCC to facilitate deep decarbonization of the transport sector.

Keywords: mobile carbon capture; transport decarbonization, thermal swing absorption, waste heat recovery, Class VIII truck, vehicle integration, heavy duty