| Title | The GECO Project: Lowering the Emissions from the Hellisheidi and Nesjavellir Power Plants Via NCG Capture, Utilization, and Storage |
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| Authors | Nökkvi ANDERSEN, Bergur SIGFUSSON, Magnus Th. ARNARSON, Sandra Osk SNÆBJÖRNSDOTTIR |
| Year | 2020 |
| Conference | World Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | CO2 capture; H2S capture; CCS; Basalt; Mineral storage; Mineralization; Carbfix |
| Abstract | Innovative non-condensable gas (NCG) capture and storage technology has been developed and proved successfully at an industrial scale at the Hellisheidi power plant in SW-Iceland as a part of the Carbfix project. Most of the NCG is dissolved in water in a dedicated absorption column and the resulting gas/water mixture re-injected into the subsurface, resulting in significant reduction of both CO2 and H2S emissions. The injected gases react with the basaltic bedrock and form stable minerals for permanent storage. GECO (Geothermal Emission Control) is an international research project that started in 2018, funded by the EU through the H2020 research and innovation programme. The main aim of the project is to lower emissions from geothermal power generation by capturing them for either reuse or storage, and implement lessons learned at the Carbfix site in Hellisheidi, Iceland at five new sites in; Turkey, Italy, Germany, Nesjavellir and Hveragerdi, Iceland. This paper reports on the main activities taking place within the GECO project at the Hellisheidi and Nesjavellir sites in Iceland, where 1) a second stage CO2 purification will be demonstrated at the Hellisheidi geothermal plant; and 2) the Carbfix technology will be optimized further by building a new demonstration plant at the Nesjavellir power plant, where the gases will be diverted into an absorption column at elevated pressure to increase capture efficiency and at the same time reduce the water demand of the technology. |