Leveraging CO₂ capture and liquefaction from waste processes

By Benjamin Burfeind and Manuela Hoellinger 

Committing to sustainable business practices is becoming more relevant for corporations in all sectors. A recent Kearney survey shows that 80% of buyers consider the environmental impacts of their purchases. Responding to this, companies continue to build sustainable practices into their operations, creating value for their customers and stakeholders. 

For larger business operations, the integration of sustainability projects is more likely part of a broad-scoped strategy to optimize all facets of their business, from facility operations through process functions, manpower and distribution, while incorporating sustainable materials and procedures.  

A crucial aspect of any sustainability initiative is minimizing a company’s carbon footprint. As global demand for energy rises, so does the need for solutions to minimize the influence of carbon dioxide (CO₂) released from fossil fuels and other unsustainable sources into the environment. 

Industrial, manufacturing, energy and agricultural operations, as primary consumers of energy and a major historic source of carbon emissions in the global economy, need to play a leading role in partnership with sustainability.  

While preventing CO₂ from being released into the atmosphere continues to be a key objective of sustainable practices, more recent decarbonization efforts have focused on CO₂ capture, with subsequent storage and/or reuse. Essentially, capturing CO₂ from industrial, manufacturing, energy and agricultural operations, then either sequestering CO₂ into deep underground storage, or converting it into reusable by-products. 

Whether sequestering or repurposing CO₂, it first must be converted from a gaseous state to a fluid state to be transported and stored. The liquid state of carbon dioxide is typically between a temperature of -11°F (-24°C) and -18°F (-28°C), at a pressure between 206 – 261 PSI (g).  

Solutions providing repurposed and renewable liquefied CO₂ are becoming increasingly important in numerous areas of application, enhancing circularity, decarbonization, improving supply security, and reducing transportation costs. The fact that liquefied CO₂ is needed in so many different industries, including food production and processing, energy production and agriculture, it is increasingly directing attention to this renewable by-product as a valuable commodity. 

In addition to the reduction of greenhouse gases released into the environment, CO₂ liquefaction pays off monetarily by providing additional revenue streams with the sale of CO₂ to other sectors of industry, or by recirculating the captured and liquefied CO2 into the production process, hence making the system more self-sufficient.  

Additionally, carbon credits from CO₂ liquefaction can be traded on the voluntary carbon market globally. For industrial, manufacturing, energy and agricultural companies, CO₂ liquefaction presents a viable addition to further diversify a company’s income portfolio. 

Hypro Engineers Pvt Ltd. and Kanadevia Inova recently developed a new CO₂ liquefaction process technology. Automated operations and controls dynamically adjust the processes to meet changes in feed gas composition and plant loads, achieving an output quality of 99.99% pure liquified CO₂.   

Benjamin Burfeind and Manuela Hoellinger are with Kanadevia Inova. For more information, email benjamin.burfeind@kanadevia-inova.com, or visit www.kanadevia-inova.com/north-america.