Two flue gas sources, three testing scales and full plant support — so developers can evaluate carbon capture technologies under the conditions they’ll actually face in commercial deployment.
Here’s what makes NCCC’s testing environment unlike a typical research lab.
Flue Gas Sources
The NCCC offers natural gas flue gas, giving developers flexibility to test against the operating conditions most relevant to their technology—including simulated coal-relevant conditions when needed.
- Dedicated natural gas-derived boiler system —Provides flexible, low-contaminant streams of 4-10% CO2. CO2 concentrations can also be adjusted to simulate industrial-source and coal-relevant testing conditions.
- Alabama Power’s Plant Gaston Unit 5 — Supplies power-plant flue gas for carbon capture testing when the unit is operating. Unit 5 is planned for conversion to natural gas.
Testing Scales
- Pilot scale — Pilot Solvent Test Unit, up to 10 tons per day (tpd) solvent test capability, with test bays supporting 10-20 tpd
- Bench scale — Additional test bays, up to 2 tpd
- Lab scale — Indoor laboratory for pounds-per-day evaluations
Supporting Infrastructure
On-site utilities, analytical labs and project support let campaigns run longer and generate the data developers need for next-step decisions.
What Testing Reveals
- How performance changes across operating parameters
- Whether the technology can run reliably over extended operating periods
- What integration, operating or maintenance issues only show up in real conditions
- What data are needed to make confident next-step decisions