Kick-off ceremony for POLICAP, the new mobile CO₂ capture unit of the Politecnico di Milano

A step forward towards reducing carbon dioxide emissions. POLICAP, the mobile pilot plant for CO₂ capture with solvents of the Politecnico di Milano, was inaugurated today in Piacenza. POLICAP is an advanced research infrastructure, developed by the Department of Energy-DENG of the Politecnico di Milano, funded by the PNRR within the framework of the national ECCSELLENT project, whose laboratories are part of the European ECCSEL-ERIC network and aimed at developing CCUS technologies – that is Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage, which are essential for reducing industrial emissions.

Specifically, POLICAP is an engineered pilot unit, designed for investigation in CO₂ capture through solvent-based absorption: in addition to state-of-the-art solvents and processes, the pilot is meant also to test new components, processes and solvents that are potentially more energy efficient, economically competitive and environmentally sustainable. The other innovative aspect is its mobility: the transportable configuration will allow installation at real industrial sites, making it possible to operate both with synthetic gases and with emission streams from existing production plants.

Among the objectives: demonstrating the possibility of achieving high CO₂ capture efficiencies; carrying out performance tests representative of existing industrial applications, thanks to a unit equipped with advanced scientific instrumentation; studying the scale-up and industrialisation of CO₂ capture also through advanced digital models. The pilot was conceived, designed and will be managed by a team from the Department of Energy of the Politecnico di Milano, led by Professors Manuele Gatti and Matteo Carmelo Romano, and including researchers Valeria Venturelli, Antonio Conversano and Riccardo Cremona. An important partnership was established with LEAP – Laboratorio Energia Ambiente Piacenza, an energy and environmental research centre founded and participated in by the Politecnico di Milano, which contributed to the installation of the unit.

POLICAP – Technical and operational features:

POLICAP consists of a mobile pilot plant, skid-mounted and containerized). The plant is designed to treat gas flow rates in the range of approximately 50 to 180 Nm³/h, with inlet CO₂ molar concentrations between 4% and 20%, and a capture capacity of up to about 30 kg/h.

From a process standpoint, POLICAP is structured into four main sections:

• flue gas pre-treatment and cooling (Direct Contact Cooler);
• absorption section;
• heat exchange network;
• solvent thermal regeneration section.

The packed-bed absorption unit features innovative characteristics and high operational flexibility, including the possibility of varying the packing height. Downstream of the absorber, a liquid–liquid separator is installed for handling biphasic solvents.

The plant also includes:

• two absorption columns with different diameters and one stripper;
• a membrane contactor module for the investigation of low-TRL technologies;
• a complete and advanced instrumentation system (flow meters, temperature, pressure and pH sensors, FTIR spectrometers), enabling accurate reconstruction of mass and energy balances and detailed analysis of the performance of individual units.

POLICAP is conceived as a platform for applied and demonstration research activities at a representative scale, operating at medium-to-high technology readiness levels (TRLs), while also maintaining the capability to support low-TRL studies.

Expected results

The experimental and development activities aim to:

• demonstrate the technology at TRL 6–7;
• validate and calibrate numerical models (e.g., in Aspen Plus) based on experimental data;
• achieve CO₂ removal efficiencies above 90% over a wide range of operating conditions;
• provide reliable data on stability, degradation, and energy efficiency of innovative solvents;
• contribute to the deployment and industrialization of CCUS technologies.

ECCSELLENT – TECHNICAL DATA:

PNRR intervention area: Mission 4 – Education and Research, COMPONENT 2 “From research to business”, INVESTMENT 3.1 – Fund for the creation of an integrated system of research and innovation infrastructures (infrastructures and research). Partnerships: National Research Council (CNR); ENEA; Politecnico di Milano; University of Bologna; National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics.