Capturing Carbon While Creating Clean Water
Funded through Round 1 of the Grand Challenge: Innovative Carbon Uses in 2014, ARCTECH Inc.’s project presents a unique and innovative approach to carbon capture. Using its proprietary liquid absorbent, HUMASORB®-L, the technology captures CO2 and converts it into HUMASORB®-CS—a solid water filter capable of removing multiple contaminants from wastewater. Derived from coal-based humic substances, HUMASORB®-L also removes nitrous oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), and toxic trace metals from flue gases. The system can be deployed as a low-cost standalone treatment or retrofitted into existing SOx scrubbers for enhanced flue gas treatment.
Generating Value While Cleaning the Air
HUMASORB® technology offers a cost-effective solution for recycling CO2, the most prevalent greenhouse gas, while delivering direct environmental benefits. In addition to CO2, the system captures SOx, NOx, and toxic metals from combustion gases. The resulting product, HUMASORB®-CS, is a marketable, stable material that removes contaminants from wastewater and permanently sequesters carbon. The technology also leverages ARCTECH’s MicGAS™ Coal Biotechnology to produce HUMASORB®-L from Alberta’s humic-rich coal, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional coal use.
HUMASORB® technology is well-suited to address emissions from coal-fired power plants and in situ oil sands operations. While in situ emissions are largely from natural gas combustion and dispersed sources, HUMASORB® can target major point sources and support Alberta’s climate goals through scalable, value-generating solutions.
What’s next?
While not commercially deployed in Alberta, HUMASORB® technology is currently in use across the United States, the Middle East, and Asia for removing toxic metals and organic contaminants from the environment. It has also demonstrated the ability to enhance crop yields by 30–40 per cent when used as a micronutrient fertilizer in agricultural applications.