Published January 14, 2025
By Christine Reed
2024 was a year marked with some of the greatest achievements yet for the Wyoming Integrated Test Center (ITC). A testing facility enabling technology developers to assess their carbon capture technologies using actual coal-based flue gas, the ITC continued to drive innovation and accelerate the feasibility of those technologies for a future deployment in various capacities to support wide-scale development and the fossil fuel industry.
The ITC continues to see strong interest from developers and the Department of Energy (DOE) with many contracts and leases in place to facilitate testing. Additionally, some tenants received notice of major funding selections in which the ITC playing an integral role in the success of their proposals. The year also saw the completion of one project, and the completed construction of another to commence the largest-scale testing in the history of the facility.
A summary of significant milestones include:
January: Colorado State University, the University of Wyoming and Living Ink Technologies were selected to receive $2.5 million in project funding from the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) to convert an industrial source of carbon dioxide into high-value materials through an algae-based carbon transfer process at the ITC.
February: DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Development (OCED) announced the selection of TDA Research Inc. (TDA) to negotiate an award of up to $49 million to test a carbon capture system at the ITC. The large-scale pilot will test a sorbent-based, post-combustion carbon capture system capable of capturing 158,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year.
May: The University of Wyoming’s School of Energy Resources (SER) hosted carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology and project developers — with potential carbon capture customers — at a Technology Showcase event at the ITC.
August: The Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. and Japan Carbon Frontier Organization (JCOAL) project completed all testing and began decommissioning.
September: TDA competed installation of a separate, novel carbon capture system project, which incorporates proprietary solid sorbent technologies to remove carbon dioxide from flue gas.
October: Gas Technology Institute (GTI), in partnership with Ohio State University, began construction on a facilitated transport membrane system for carbon dioxide capture project in the hopes that testing can commence in the early spring of 2025.
December: MTR announced the completion of the construction of a large pilot carbon dioxide capture system using its proprietary PolarisTM membrane technology at the ITC. The facility is the largest membrane-based post-combustion carbon capture facility in the world and is a cooperative agreement between MTR and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) under DOE’s Fossil Fuel Large-Scale Pilots program.
“We are excited to see that the Wyoming ITC is up and running consistent with the purpose that was set forth when it was envisioned in 2014,” says SER Executive Director Holly Krutka. “Technology developers from all over the world have now either successfully commenced or completed operations, or have expressed interest in doing so in the future. We are pleased that activities this year facilitated communications between these developers and Powder River Basin coal users so that Wyoming can be well-positioned to remain a top coal producing state with the integration of novel capture technologies.”
Activities during 2024 at the ITC have played an important role in raising the profile of Wyoming as a leader in carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies, and the ITC remains committed to advancing commercial-scale carbon management solutions. As projects continue to advance and scale-up, the outlook for 2025 remains promising.
