Lashburn Steam Generator Plant VeloxoTherm Carbon Capture

Project Overview

Approved for funding through ERA’s Round 4: Carbon Capture + Energy Technology in 2012, Svante demonstrated its next-generation solid-sorbent CO₂ capture technology as a potential competitor to commercially available amine technology. By completion in 2021, the project demonstrated the technology at a Husky oil and gas facility in western Canada, enabling Svante to further scale up its technology around the world, establish a $165M manufacturing in Burnaby, BC, and leading to $318M Series E funding announcement in 2022 and $137M investment from the Canada Growth Fund in 2024.

About the technology

For nearly two decades, Svante has been developing an advanced CO₂ capture technology, VeloxoTherm. The technology is designed using an adsorbent, the material that grabs onto the gases, but the structure of the adsorbent is changed to make it particularly useful for flue gases and industrial plant emissions. VeloxoTherm captures carbon dioxide from flue gas or stack gas point-sources and purifies it for safe storage or industrial use. The process uses a capital- and energy-efficient rotary adsorption technology, creating a system with a smaller footprint and without the environmental impact of liquid solvents.

The project aimed to develop and optimize the VeloxoTherm structured sorbent and design, manufacture, and install a 30 tonne/day VeloxoTherm CO₂ capture pilot plant at Husky’s enhanced oil recovery facility in Lashburn, Saskatchewan.

Successful Operation of Industrial-Scale Carbon Capture Pilot Plant

To prepare for the pilot, Svante achieved optimization and performance validation of the adsorbent materials and architectures, scaled-up manufacturing capability, and conducted small-scale field testing of the technology. Svante then implemented the project in three phases:

1. Phase 1: The first phase of the project matured the technology from initial proof-of-concept and bench scale through to field testing readiness. The work done in this phase, specifically testing of multiple iterations of adsorbent processes, resulted a successful go/no-go decision to move ahead with the FEED and execution of the pilot plant.
2. Phase 2: The second phase moved the project forward with more advanced adsorbent materials, continued process optimization and field testing, and scaled-up manufacturing. The demo plant was fully commissioned on actual flue gas.
3. Phase 3: The third phase involved completion of FEED, detailed design, procurement, fabrication, installation, construction, commissioning and testing of the 30 tpd pilot plant. Svante successful commissioned and tested the pilot plant, which achieved a daily CO₂ production rate of 30 tonnes/day, in January 2020.

Overall, the project succeeded in demonstrating a world-first VeloxoTherm CO₂ capture plant on an operating energy facility.

What’s next?

Since the pilot, Svante has advanced the latest generation of its based on a non-amine-based sorbent material (Metal Organic Framework, or MOF), which has numerous advantages over commercial liquid amine technology:

• Resistance to particulate matter: Even very small (ppb) amounts of particulate matter can poison amines, impacting performance.
• No secondary emissions: Amines produce toxic degradation products and emissions, creating environmental concerns and regulatory challenges.
• Potential to be recyclable: Svante is advancing ways to recycle and regenerate used beds, compared to liquid amines which ultimately result in large quantities of sludge waste.
• Ability to handle variable flow rates: The technology adapts well to changes in flue gas flow rates, unlike liquid amine technology, which suffers significant performance decline if it is run inconsistently.

Svante continues to operate the pilot plant at the Lashburn site, along with other pilots in BC and California, gathering operating data to inform further optimization and development. Going forward, Svante will continue to industrialize and scale-up its product, supply chain, and business to enable the market for widespread capture of industrial CO₂ emissions. To fully commercialize, Svante will embark on a commercial deployment of its ~500 tpd rotating adsoprtion machine (RAM) iteration of the technology.

Svante broke ground on a $165M manufacturing facility in Burnaby, BC in 2022, which is slotted for completion in 2025, and where the commercial-scale RAM is being tested. Additional investments include a $318M Series E funding announcement in 2022 and $137M investment from the Canada Growth Fund in 2024, positioning Svante to become a leading provider of next generation carbon capture solutions today.

The technology has attracted interest and pipeline of projects in Canada, the US, and Europe. Svante has developed notable partnerships to develop industrial-scale carbon capture projects across North America with Kiewet Engineering and in Europe with Technip Energies.