SINTEF ‘s research team has launched the Continuous Swing Adsorption Reactor (CSAR), a technology that will improve carbon dioxide capture in industries. This innovation was successfully tested at the BIR AS waste combustion plant, located on the outskirts of Bergen, where it demonstrated outstanding performance.
CSAR technology optimizes CO₂ capture
The CSAR system is distinguished by its simplified design and focus on energy efficiency. Unlike technologies that rely on waste heat to release captured CO₂, CSAR uses both a heat pump and a vacuum pump .
[post_relacionado]This mechanism allows for the efficient transfer of thermal energy between two reactors, capturing and releasing CO₂ with lower electricity consumption. Jan Hendrik Cloete, a scientist at SINTEF, said: “ Our study shows that CSAR competes favourably with heat-based technologies, especially when renewable electricity is available .”
During 100 hours of continuous operation, the reactor captured CO₂ at a rate equivalent to laboratory tests. This plant processes 220,000 tons of waste annually, generating around 250,000 tons of CO₂, which underlines the importance of adopting sustainable solutions such as CSAR.
The SINTEF team and Norwegian company Caox are leading the effort, collaborating on the scaling up of this technology in other industries, including an upcoming demonstration at a cement factory in Spain. This work is part of the European CAPTUS project , which is investigating sustainable methods for capturing and reusing CO₂ in energy-intensive industrial sectors.
The implementation of CSAR technology reduces greenhouse gas emissions and facilitates its integration into existing industrial infrastructures, through its dependence on electrical sources and other energy alternatives.
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Source and photo: SINTEF