Japan’s MODEC, Inc. (“MODEC”) announced that it has entered into a Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) contract with SAMSUNG E&A for an offshore carbon capture pilot project, selecting Carbon Clean’s modular CycloneCC technology. The study envisages the installation of a carbon capture module on a MODEC Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel as a pilot, and it will be a first-of-a-kind deployment of CycloneCC in an onboard carbon capture setting.
Carbon Clean will provide FEED support to SAMSUNG E&A, including equipment supply of the rotating packed bed (RPB) technology at the heart of CycloneCC and process design package (PDP) licensing for the unit. SAMSUNG E&A will perform detailed engineering to optimize CycloneCC for the offshore environment and FPSO’s boundary conditions.
CycloneCC is well suited to an offshore maritime environment, as the unit footprint is up to 50% smaller than conventional solutions, with its largest equipment sizes reduced by a factor of 10. The recently launched CycloneCC C1 series delivers a height reduction of 70% compared to column-based technologies. The RPBs will achieve enhanced capture performance under vessel motions compared to columns, making CycloneCC ideal for offshore operations.
Koichi Matsumiya, Chief Technical Officer, MODEC, said: “MODEC is proactively pursuing two targets through our R&D activities. One is to provide a stable energy supply to society with minimum GHG emission, and another is to prepare for new floater solutions to bridge the society with alternative energies from oil and gas. We believe that the carbon capture technology proposed by Carbon Clean will be the key to achieve both of our targets. We will make our best efforts to progress the readiness level of this technology by utilizing our experience at offshore and would like to materialize this technology at offshore in the shortest possible timeframe.”
Cheon Hong Park, Executive Vice President and Head of Sustainable Solutions Division, SAMSUNG E&A, said: “This initiative aligns with our company’s mission to address societal challenges through our technological solutions. It marks a significant milestone with the first application of Carbon Clean’s innovative carbon capture technology in the marine industry. We are confident that the successful execution of this project will play a key role in advancing MODEC’s mid-term decarbonization plan while accelerating the commercialization of Carbon Clean’s CycloneCC technology.”
Aniruddha Sharma, Chair and CEO, Carbon Clean, said: “ Onboard carbon capture is essential for decarbonizing offshore oil and gas operations. Our highly modular CycloneCC technology is 10x smaller than conventional solutions, making it ideal for confined spaces, including floating vessels and maritime settings. Its replicable, scalable design makes it logistically and commercially viable to be deployed across a fleet at a fraction of the cost of traditional amine systems.”
The carbon capture project is in line with MODEC’s decarbonization strategy outlined in its Vision 2034 plan, specifically the goal of reducing CO2 emissions in its FPSO operations. Once successful, the next stage may include the installation of a commercial, scaled-up CycloneCC unit on MODEC’s FPSO fleet.