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DRIVE

Deep Removal of CO₂ and InnoVative Electrification concepts

Pushing capture beyond 98% — comparing thermal and electrochemical regeneration at real industrial conditions.

Scope

DRIVE tackles the next frontier of carbon capture: "deep removal" — capturing 98% or more of the CO₂ from industrial point sources, and pushing further into carbon-neutral and even carbon-negative operation. Rather than backing a single solution, DRIVE develops and compares two regeneration routes side by side — thermally-driven amine capture and electrochemically-driven regeneration — and delivers the first holistic technical, economic and environmental evaluation of deep removal, validated in long-duration tests at real industrial conditions (TRL 5–7). Use cases span cement, waste-to-energy and power.

The consortium is supported by a waste-to-energy advisory board including HVC, AVR and AEB Amsterdam.

Main targets

  • Demonstrate deep removal — capture rates from the 95% benchmark up to 98%, and into the carbon-neutral and carbon-negative ranges.
  • Keep the marginal cost of deep removal below €200/tCO₂ — cost-competitive versus Direct Air Capture.
  • Mature electrochemical regeneration technologies to TRL 5, and demonstrate one at TRL 6 at a cement plant.
  • Produce optimized flowsheets, a rigorous techno-economic assessment and a life-cycle assessment across a wide scenario matrix.

Hovyu's activities

Hovyu is the developer of ZEUS, one of the project's electrochemical (electricity-driven) regeneration technologies, and a core technical partner. Within DRIVE, Hovyu leads the techno-economic assessment, carries out high-fidelity process modelling of deep removal in ProTreat®, optimizes and builds the ZEUS system, supports the TRL 5 and TRL 6 demonstration campaigns, and contributes to the project's patent-landscape reviews.

The ZEUS process

ZEUS process — Zero-Emissions Ultra-Stripping (overview) Rendered process overview. Flue gas enters an absorber where a hydroxide (KOH) solvent captures CO₂, releasing clean gas at deep-removal levels below 50 ppmv. The CO₂-loaded solution is sent to a neutralization tank where a weak acid releases pressurized CO₂ (first regeneration step), producing a salt solution. A bipolar-membrane electrodialysis cell (second step) uses electricity to regenerate the KOH — recycled to the absorber — and the acid — recycled to the tank. No heat is used. ZEUS — Zero-Emissions Ultra-Stripping Electrochemical, heat-free CO₂ capture & solvent regeneration Flue gas Absorber Clean gas · deep removal <50 ppmv Heat exchanger 1 Neutralization tank 1st step · CO₂ release Pressurized CO₂ Weak acid + – 2 BPM-ED cell 2nd step · electro-membrane regeneration KOH regenerated → recycled to absorber Salt solution Flue / clean gas CO₂ KOH / alkaline Acid Salt solution
Hovyu engineer presenting ZEUS results at the PCCC-8 conference
Debadrita Ganguly presenting the ZEUS results at the 8th Post-Combustion Capture Conference (PCCC-8).
Co-funded by the European UnionCETPartnership — Clean Energy Transition Partnership

This research was funded by CETPartnership, the Clean Energy Transition Partnership under the 2022 CETPartnership joint call for research proposals, co-funded by the European Commission (GA N°101069750) and with the funding organizations detailed on cetpartnership.eu/fundingagencies-and-call-modules.

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At a glance

Duration
36 months
Coordinator
TNO (Netherlands)
Funding
CETPartnership (Clean Energy Transition Partnership), co-funded by the European Union (GA N°101069750)

Consortium

  • TNO
  • Hovyu
  • Eindhoven University of Technology
  • RWE Power
  • TotalEnergies
  • CEMEX
  • IDMEC
  • Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (iED)
  • Heriot-Watt University
  • SSE
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