B&W Awarded $2.8 Million in DOE Funding for Carbon Capture Research

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) (NYSE: BWC) announced today that its Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group, Inc. (B&W PGG) subsidiary has been selected to receive $2.8 million in financial assistance funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to study chemical formulations to improve the performance of its Regenerable Solvent Absorption Technology^TM (RSAT) process solvent used to capture carbon dioxide (CO₂) from coal-fired power plants. The project will be managed by DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory under its Innovations for Existing Plants (IEP) Program.

“This DOE-funded project allows us to explore new options for improving the energy requirements for solvent regeneration, durability and other factors to make the OptiCap solvent an attractive option for post-combustion CO2 capture.”

B&W will contribute $0.7 million in the form of in-kind research and development to the project, including research personnel and facility space, which will be conducted at the B&W Research Center in Barberton, Ohio. Project participants also include the University of Cincinnati and FirstEnergy Corp., which will act in an advisory role to provide input from a utility operator’s perspective.

“B&W is in the process of optimizing our proprietary OptiCap^TM solvent for CO₂ capture,” B&W Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Don Langley said. “This DOE-funded project allows us to explore new options for improving the energy requirements for solvent regeneration, durability and other factors to make the OptiCap solvent an attractive option for post-combustion CO₂ capture.”

At its Barberton research facility, B&W has developed and tested multiple technologies to capture CO₂ emissions from coal-fired power plants and combat global climate change. These technologies include the post-combustion RSAT process using OptiCap solvent and the oxy-coal combustion process. The facility has several RSAT process pilot systems and chemical analysis apparatus to allow for a full range of product development and testing.

About B&W

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., The Babcock & Wilcox Company is a leader in clean energy technology and services, primarily for the nuclear, fossil and renewable power markets, as well as a premier advanced technology and mission critical defense contractor. B&W has locations worldwide and employs approximately 12,000 people, in addition to approximately 10,000 joint venture employees. Learn more at www.babcock.com.