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Abstract: Europe, North America, Australia and other individual countries have certification and testing procedures for solar thermal equipment designed to support innovation and product development and to protect consumers from poor performance and unsafe designs. For the first time, as a result of the international coll aboration under the IEA-SHC Task 43 umbrella and the working groups of Solar Keymark Network, SRCC, ISO/TC180 and CEN/TC312, it has been possible to develop a common international standard draft for solar thermal collector testing. This paper describes in detail the new ISO/DIS 9806 standard and the relevant topics which clarify and refine existing test procedures or extend their scope: including solar air heating collector testing and tracking/concentrating collector testing. The new ISO/DIS 9806 standard opens the door to a global certification scheme for solar thermal collectors, thereby helping to overcome problems resulting from many different regional certification schemes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC) was setup with distinct programs focusing on storage, capture, demonstration, education and international collaboration designed to address the many issues facing potential carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. In particular the Capture Program aims to research, develop and deploy technologies that can achieve significant cuts in capture cost (75%–80%) and provide Australia with a research and education capability to support industries using these technologies. This paper provides details on the capture research activities within the centre, the major demonstration projects underway, including outlines of the equipment employed and how they are enabling the progression of separation technologies from laboratory through to eventual large scale commercial operation. Aided by recent initiatives of the Victorian State Government, under their Energy Technology Innovation Strategy (ETIS) program, CO2CRC is leading the research in two such research and development projects. These three year projects, one a $6 million post combustion demonstration incorporating a 10,000 tpa CO2 capture plant, and the other a $5.5 million pre-combustion application, each designed to test the CO2CRC’s full range of capture technologies (solvents, membranes and adsorption systems), in purpose built rigs under actual power plant conditions. The ability to demonstrate both conventional and novel capture techniques in the one facility is, we believe, unique. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A 25 TPD post-combustion CO2 capture plant for brown coal and a 0.5TPD pre-combustion CO2 capture IGCC process have been designed and are being built in Victoria, Australia to assess developments in solvent absorption capture technologies. In this paper, the flowsheets developed for these processes will be discussed along with the underpinning research in the following areas: [•] New contact equipment — recent work has shown that the SMR packing has enhanced performance over structured packing and standard Pall rings. [•] The influence of promoters to enhance kinetics - using a wetted-wall column, experiments have been conducted with boric acid added to potassium carbonate solvent with results showing an enhancement in CO2 absorption rates. [•] The influence of flue gas impurities - post-combustion impurities, including SO x and NO x , have been studied with potassium carbonate to evaluate their effects on CO2 absorption. [•] Process modeling — ASPEN Plus™ simulations have been developed to predict column performance and the effects of impurities on the equilibrium relationship. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]