Ershigs Inc used Ashland Performance Materials' Hetron® epoxy vinyl ester resin to manufacture composite duct work and direct contact cooler (DCC) components for the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) system located at the American Electric Power (AEP) Mountaineer facility in New Haven, West Virginia, USA.

“This is the only CCS unit to date using advanced resin technology for corrosion protection," explains Thom Johnson, product manager, Ashland Performance Materials, a commercial unit of Ashland Inc (NYSE: ASH). "The CCS system creates a very aggressive environment and fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) was chosen over stainless steel to fabricate these components due to its superior corrosion resistance.”

“This new technology, introduced by Alstom Power and being validated by AEP, holds tremendous promise for corrosion resistant FRP use for CCS systems at power plants around the globe,” he adds.

Ershigs Inc, a US manufacturer of composite piping, vessels, chimney liners and other corrosion-resistant products, provided the structural design and manufactured the FRP ductwork and direct contact cooling (DCC) tower vessel for the CCS unit.

“We have enjoyed a long history of working with Ashland and their epoxy vinyl ester resins such as Hetron and Derakane®,” reports Steve Hettick, vice president, manufacturing, for Ershigs. “This CCS project is an excellent example of how composites, with advanced Ashland resin technology, can be utilised for demanding power plant applications.” 

CCS and AEP

Carbon capture and sequestration, also known as carbon capture and storage, is a process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions to prevent them from going into the atmosphere, and then storing them permanently underground in safe geological formations.

CCS provides a means to dramatically reduce the amount of CO₂ emitted into the atmosphere from industrial facilities or from power plants generating electricity from fossil fuels.

AEP is one of the largest generators of electricity in the USA. Nearly 75% of AEP's power comes from coal.

AEP’s first CCS project involves the validation of Alstom’s Chilled Ammonia Process for CO₂ capture. AEP began operating the chilled ammonia process on AEP’s 1300 MW Mountaineer Plant in New Haven, West Virginia, as a 20 MW (electric) product validation in September 2009. Approximately 100 000 tonnes per year of CO₂ will be captured, injected and stored in deep geologic formations beneath the Mountaineer site. Battelle Memorial Institute is serving as the primary consultant for AEP on the geological storage work.

Following the completion of product validation at Mountaineer, AEP plans to install a commercial-scale application of the chilled ammonia system at the plant. It intends to capture at least 90% of the CO₂ from 235 MW of the plant’s 1300 MW capacity starting in 2015. The captured CO₂ – approximately 1.5 million tonnes per year – will be injected into geologic formations for permanent storage at a depth of approximately 1.5 miles below the surface.

AEP applied for US$334 million in funding through the US Department of Energy Clean Coal Power Initiative-Round 3 to cover part of the cost of installing the system. This represents about half the projected cost.