30.06.2025
At the end of April 2025, Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM) launched a four-month test campaign of the advanced CESAR1 solvent as part of the EU Horizon-funded AURORA project.
The goal of the AURORA project: to demonstrate that this non-proprietary solvent technology is ready for commercial use in industry—and early results are promising.
As the world’s largest and most advanced CO2 capture test facility, TCM is a key hub for developing and qualifying carbon capture technologies essential to decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors such as waste-to-energy, natural gas-fired power plants, refineries, and coal-fired power plants. At the heart of this effort is the non-proprietary solvent CESAR1, now undergoing testing at Mongstad in collaboration with the AURORA project – led by SINTEF—which aims to revolutionize carbon capture across multiple industrial sectors.
“Our main task in this campaign is to fill knowledge gaps and qualify CESAR1 for full-scale industrial use,” says Koteswara Rao Putta, Technical Services Lead and Projects Coordinator at TCM. “This means documenting performance, stability, and environmental impact under realistic conditions—not just in the lab, but in operational environments that reflect what industry actually faces.”
Over the four-month campaign, the team at TCM is evaluating both the performance and environmental impact of CESAR1 under various operating conditions, including variable loads, different flue gas compositions, and challenges such as NO2 contamination.
TCM first tested CESAR1 in 2019, but that campaign revealed several operational challenges. “We learned a lot at that time and used those insights to improve both the processes and instrumentation,” says Putta. “Now we’re seeing that CESAR1 delivers higher capture efficiency while keeping environmental emissions very low. That’s a crucial step toward commercial deployment.”
The current campaign includes testing with flue gases from a wide range of industrial sources—such as RFCC (refinery gas), waste-to-energy plants, and the metals processing, recycling, cement, steel, and iron industries—and will later include smelters, hydrogen production, and gas-fired power plants.
“One of the most valuable experiences so far has been seeing how CESAR1 handles different types of flue gas impurities,” he explains. “For example, we recently conducted a long-duration test under high NO2 conditions, which is particularly relevant for the cement sector. This gives us important insights into solvent degradation and process optimization.”
Facts about the AURORA Project
Based on open technology, available for global development and use
Led by SINTEF, one of Europe’s largest independent research institutes
Funded by the EU Horizon Europe program
Goal: Qualify CESAR1 for commercial use
Target industries: Cement, refineries, materials recycling
Solvent-based CO2 capture is a flexible and well-established method that can be adapted to many different emission sources. CESAR1—developed as an open and non-proprietary solution—stands out for its high efficiency, low emissions, and significantly reduced energy demand compared to conventional solutions like MEA (monoethanolamine).
“Having CESAR1 as an open technology means the results can be shared and further developed,” says Putta. “That enables more players, including academia and start-ups, to contribute to improvements and adaptations. This is how we build the future of carbon capture—together.”
Key demonstration highlights for CESAR1 include:
A central ambition of the campaign is to generate results directly applicable to industrial use. TCM has therefore tested CESAR1 under real-world conditions, including load variations, contaminants, and both high- and low-concentration CO2 streams.
“We designed the tests to cover many possible operational scenarios—from full load to partial operation, and with large variations in flue gas composition,” says Putta. “This mirrors the real world, where conditions are rarely perfect.”
In the coming weeks, TCM will test flue gases simulating smelters and natural gas power plant CO2 concentrations—including scenarios resembling those in UK and US industrial clusters—as well as flue gas with very low CO2 concentrations, typical of the aluminum industry.
Midway through the campaign, in July, TCM will also test advanced control strategies developed by Cybernetica, a partner in the AURORA project. The goal is to demonstrate how automated systems can help industry bring CO2 capture plants to stable operation faster, adapt to changing conditions, and reduce operational costs.
“These control systems will make the process more robust and adaptable, even under unpredictable conditions,” says Putta. “It’s about building confidence for investment and lowering operational risks.”
The campaign will conclude toward the end of August, and the results will serve as a foundation for broader deployment of CESAR1 in industry—supporting start-ups, research institutions, and other developers aiming to advance the technology.
“We’re very pleased so far. The results are strong, the collaboration is close, and we see this becoming an important piece in the puzzle to make carbon capture more accessible and reliable—with reduced risks for many more industries,” Putta concludes. “This isn’t just research—it’s laying the groundwork for real change.”
