MOF Sorbent on a Roll – A Scalable Solution for Gigaton Scale Carbon Capture

• Results of research published today in the international peer-reviewed journal, Science.
• A durable and scalable metal-organic framework (MOF) captures CO2 with high capacity, high stability and selectivity over steam with modest regeneration penalty.

VANCOUVER, BC, December 16, 2021 (BUSINESS WIRE) – Svante Inc. announced today the successful scale-up of a new sorbent material used in carbon capture processes. This sorbent can capture up to 95% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from industrial sources, such as cement and blue hydrogen plants, using rapid solid adsorption and low temperature steam.

By engineering the structure of the metal-organic framework (MOF) nano-material, Svante’s team of scientists, along with University of Calgary’s professor George Shimizu and his team of faculty and students, have been working collaboratively for four (4) years to develop and scale-up this novel sorbent material that acts as a sponge for adsorbing CO2. Results of the research was accepted to be published today in the international peer-reviewed journal, Science. These results demonstrated the very special characteristics of this sorbent together with its resistance to oxidation and water vapor, allowing CO2 to be captured at low cost using Svante’s proprietary structured adsorbent filter.

Solid sorbents are a step change for carbon capture but the challenge is to merge all of the desirable commercially viable features into a robust framework material with a low manufacturing cost. Calgary Framework 20 (CALF-20) is a metal-organic framework that addresses this challenge and captures CO2 with high capacity and selectivity over water. “For high performance CO2 capture and removal, steam stripping –where direct contact steam is used to flush CO2 out of the sorbent– has been a sort of holy grail in the field. It is seen as the most effective way to do it.” said Claude Letourneau, President & CEO of Svante Inc. “This MOF material, combined with our proprietary structured adsorption filter, is a game-changer. We have the technology to reduce the capital cost of CO2 capture. Now we need to scale up this technology and commercialize it to create a viable marketplace for CO2”.

Svante, in collaboration with BASF, have successfully scaled-up the CALF-20 MOF sorbent from laboratory to industrial size by using a simple low temperature process in accordance with green chemistry principles. Scalability and low cost of solid sorbent are imperative since the quantity of sorbent required for a typical cement flue gas carbon capture plant is in the range of 200 tonnes. Furthermore, over two thousand carbon capture plants need to be deployed by 2040 or equivalent to commission two world-class CO2 capture plants per week for the next 20 years. Up until now, large scale production of MOF materials at low cost had been a barrier for the gas separation industry.

In addition to scaling-up the MOF (CALF-20) manufacturing process, Svante has developed a high volume and low-cost roll-to-roll process for coating the sorbent onto a sheet laminate called “Sorbent on a Roll”. This laminate is then stacked into a high-performance filter with low pressure drop and high CO2 capacity.

Read the Science article