ASCO is building a 312 MTPD CO₂ recovery plant for a biorefinery in Belgium

In the following interview, Marius Gorczyca, Head of Sales & Plant Engineering, explains why ASCO was the right supplier and what the implementation of this major project involves.

Please explain to us what the new project is about.
In collaboration with the Alco Bio Fuel (ABF) biorefinery, industrial gas manufacturer Messer and the Belgian gas company IJsfabriek Strombeek will contribute to reducing CO₂ emissions in Belgium. Together, they are investing €15 million in a new carbon dioxide recovery plant at the Alco Bio Fuel site in the Port of Ghent. The new plant is scheduled to go into operation in about a year’s time, in the summer of 2016, and will then handle the environmentally friendly recovery and processing of around 100,000 tonnes _of CO₂ per year. The plant technology required for this will be supplied entirely by ASCO.

Please briefly explain the advantages of such a recovery plant.
The new ASCO plant will be responsible for recovering, processing, purifying and liquefying the CO₂ gas released during ethanol fermentation. In this way, CO₂ emissions will be reduced by 100,000 tonnes per year and ABF will be able to significantly improve its _carbon footprint.

In your opinion, why was the decision made to opt for a CO_{2 recovery} plant from ASCO?
As is already known, last year the business divisions responsible for the construction of CO₂ recovery plants and dry ice technology were integrated into ASCO KOHLENSÄURE AG from the German company BUSE Gastek GmbH & Co. KG. Thanks to this merger, synergies have been utilised efficiently and the combined expertise and product portfolio have been expanded and developed. Particularly in the complex field of CO₂ recovery, we can now meet our customers’ growing economic and environmental needs with innovative solutions and also implement large-scale projects with capacities exceeding 100,000 tonnes of CO₂ recovery per year.

Can you tell us a few words about the implementation?
The project was launched back in May of this year. What makes this project special is that ASCO is also handling the installation of the plant and delivering it as a so-called ‘turnkey’ solution. We expect the customer to be able to start CO₂ recovery as early as summer 2016.

What exactly does the ASCO portfolio for plant technology include?
With our strong engineering team, we are able to cover virtually all market needs in the field of CO₂ production and recovery. ASCO offers solutions for a wide variety of CO₂ sources, whether natural sources, flue gas from the combustion of fossil fuels, brewing and other fermentation processes, exhaust gases from ammonia, hydrogen or ethylene oxide production, or numerous other industrial sources. Depending on the type of installation, plant capacity ranges from 35 kg/h for pilot plants up to 15,000 kg/h for large-scale plants for the gas industry. Just this month, we are in the process of commissioning one of our plants, with a daily capacity of 360 MT/D, for a gas customer in the Caucasus region.

What are ASCO’s key success factors?
“All about CO₂” – our motto really says it all. We focus exclusively on this gas, in all its forms and variations. Our complete product range covering CO₂ and dry ice also includes special projects, safety concepts, training and consultancy. Quite simply, all the components needed to ensure a CO₂ project is a success. Another key factor in our success is the support our customers receive from our after-sales service once projects are completed. This is how we ensure sustained and high levels of customer satisfaction.

Is the current project an exception in terms of sustainability, or has the industrial use of CO₂ changed in recent years?
The trend is clearly moving increasingly towards CO₂ recovery from existing flue gas or natural sources, not least because of the environmental benefits of lower CO₂ emissions. Of course, economic factors such as lower operating and production costs, or independence from external CO₂ suppliers, also play a decisive role for companies. Of course, we must not overlook the fact that we serve a wide variety of markets worldwide. Yet even in developing and emerging economies, companies are becoming increasingly aware of the possibilities of recovering CO₂ from a wide range of exhaust gas sources rather than producing it themselves – definitely an important step in the right direction towards sustainably reducing CO₂ emissions.

Outlook: How do you think the market will develop over the next few years? What exactly is ASCO’s role in this?
In future, companies will find it increasingly difficult to ignore the importance of sustainability. From our perspective, CO₂ recovery opportunities and environmental approaches are closely intertwined, and the further development of these technologies is a top priority for ASCO. We remain focused on expansion and are pursuing various projects, particularly in the field of CO₂ recovery. It is of the utmost importance to us to demonstrate to our customers how they can independently recover CO₂ on-site from sources with a lower degree of purity, such as flue gas. Our ASCOSORB CO₂ flue gas recovery technology offers highly energy-efficient CO₂ production, which pays off for companies both environmentally and commercially. Thanks to the merger with BUSE, large-scale projects, such as the one at the Port of Ghent, can now also be realised.