MHI to License Flue Gas Carbon Dioxide Recovery Technology

The technology to be licensed by MHI separates and recovers CO2 from flue gas emitted during the urea production process and provides the captured CO2 as feedstock for urea and methanol synthesis. MHI's technology uses KS-1 proprietary solvent to absorb CO2, which MHI jointly developed with Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc (Kansai EP). The technology can recover approximately 90% of the CO2 in flue gas.

Engro Chemical Pakistan Limited is currently building a grass-roots ammonia / urea complex in Daharki, Ghotki District in Sindh Province, with a production capacity of 3,835 metric tons of urea per day using a single production train. The CO2 recovery plant on order will be the first in the world to be incorporated into a grass-roots urea plant from the design stage. MHI hopes that this will become a model case for new urea plant construction projects expected to be planned in various parts of the world in the future.

MHI’s CO2 recovery technology, officially known as the “KM CDR Process” (Kansai-Mitsubishi Carbon Dioxide Recovery Process), was jointly developed with Kansai EP. The KM CDR Process requires considerably lower energy consumption compared with other technology processes. The first CDR plant, with a recovery capacity of 200 metric tons per day (MTPD), was installed at Petronas Fertilizer (Kedah) Sdn. Bhd. in Malaysia in 1999, and it has been operating successfully. In 2005, MHI provided technology to Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) for two 450 MTPD CDR units for its two urea production plants. In 2006, MHI signed an agreement with Ruwais Fertilizer Industries (FERTIL) of the United Arab Emirates to provide CDR technology with a 400 MTPD recovery capacity for urea production enhancement. Last year, the company signed a license agreement for technology for 450 MTPD production capacity with Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC), a manufacturer of fertilizers and petrochemicals in Bahrain, and with Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited (NFCL), a fertilizer producer in India.

In addition to urea production, CO2 recovery technology can be employed in chemical applications such as production of methanol and dimethyl ether (DME) and, in the food and beverage industries, production of carbonated beverages and dry ice. Another important application possible is enhanced oil recovery (EOR) enabling increased crude oil production; in this case, CO2 is injected into an oil reservoir suffering from low productivity.

Due to the recent surge in oil prices, demand for EOR has been rising sharply. Because EOR has the potential to contribute significantly to the reduction of global warming gases through sequestration of CO2 into oil reservoirs, the technology is garnering intense attention globally, particularly in the Middle East, and its market is expected to expand enormously in the coming years. Going forward, MHI intends to promote its large-scale CO2 recovery facilities for EOR applications, as well as for chemical plant applications.