Char II

Background and purpose of the project?
The project was started in 2016 to see if it was possible to profitably clean up the smelting industry’s carbon consumption using carbon capture and storage on the manufacture of metallurgical carbon. A technical-economic feasibility study was carried out between 2017 and 2019, which formed the basis for the demonstration project, Char II, with testing of carbon capture. The Char II project ran from 2020 to 2023.

What was the goal of the project?
The Char II project was started in 2020 with a view to producing coal-based carbon with carbon capture and storage with a cost-effective solution in Norway. The main objective of the project was to develop and verify a sustainable coal-based carbon production concept with CCS.

What has the project done in terms of activities?
The project was mainly carried out under Covid-19 restrictions and has therefore been carried out on Teams to the greatest extent possible. It was severely delayed due to Covid as it was not possible to transport either goods or personnel across borders for an extended period.

1: Testing carbon capture on the fly gas in question at Polchar in Poland
Built combustion chamber connected to the carbon capture plant. Test period of 10 months. The finest particles had to be handled with a diffusion filter so as not to degrade the amine.
2: Verify that locating in Øygarden Municipality, more specifically in the Energy Park at Kollsnes, was the best solution.
This work package was carried out with regular visits to the Energy Park and dialogue with the Energy Park and Northern Lights and others.
3: Establish a commercially sustainable concept
During the project period, a lot has happened on the development of regulations, norms and markets for products with a green sign, which has helped the project move forward and made it more relevant. We also experienced the Ukraine crisis, with a violent fluctuation in coal markets, which contributed to both insight into the vulnerability of commodity markets and smelters to market fluctuations that in turn affect us.

What has the project achieved? Were the goals of the project achieved?
The goals of the project were achieved. The most important thing was to clarify whether carbon capture was possible on this type of exhaust gas. It was not without problems and we saw that it requires a very clean fly gas to be able to send into the carbon capture plant to get an optimal use of the plant’s amine.

We also verified that Kollsnes is a good place to establish ourselves with many of the elements we looked specifically for, such as proximity to the sea and CO₂ storage.

Future plans?
Going forward, Carbonor AS will be the company that further incorporates the lessons we learned from Char II. The trend now is towards more biocarbon and carbonor will go stronger in this direction, using carbon capture and becoming net carbon negative.
The cooperation with Aker Carbon Capture has been and remains very good, and will continue in the future.