SK Ecoplant aims to cut CO2 emissions from fuel cell power generation

South Korea's SK Ecoplant Co. on Monday said it is conducting a project to recycle a small amount of carbon generated when a fuel cell produces electricity.

For use by clients, the company started verification of technology for capturing and liquefying carbon from a 300-kilowatt solid oxide fuel cell at the fuel cell power plant of the Yeongwol Bitdream headquarters of public utility Korea Southern Power (Kospo) in Yeongwol County, Gangwon Province.

SK Ecoplant and other entities taking part will conduct this project for about two years until May 2025, with the goal of capturing over 85% of CO2 with a purity of 99.9%.

The carbon capture and liquefaction facility is the size of a container to allow a compact system configuration even at the plant's narrow site.

The captured carbon is reborn as liquid CO2 through the liquefication process.

Liquid CO2 is used as a high value-added raw material in sectors like welding gas, refrigerant, methanol, urea, and food and beverages. The substance produced from the verification will be used as a refrigerant for welding rod gas in the production process of shipbuilding and marine equipment maker Sunbo Unitec.

To confirm this technology for the first time in the country, corporations, small and medium enterprises, public companies and academia have joined hands.

SK Ecoplant will promote and oversee the demonstration project and is responsible for facility investment and R&D such as for transportation and application through carbon capture and liquefication.

Carbon Value, a startup that won an award at a 2021 open technology contest held by SK Ecoplant, will handle development of core technologies related to the technology's verification and licensing.

Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology's Carbon Neutrality Demonstration and Research Center plays an engineering role at the source design level in this project with Carbon Value.

Sunbo Unitec is installing and maintaining carbon capture and liquefaction facilities.

Kospo is providing support for necessary resources such as utilities and fuel cell exhaust, as well as handling idle land at the Yeongwol Bitdream plant.

Write to Eun-Ji Shim at summit@hankyung.com