Hanwha TotalEnergies said on the 10th that it began demonstration operations of a carbon capture pilot facility to reduce carbon emissions and respond to climate change.
The demonstration targets flue gas generated from a core unit of the petrochemical process, the Naphtha Cracking Center (NCC). Flue gas is a mixed gas produced during fuel combustion and discharged through stacks.
Until now, carbon capture research at home and abroad has focused on coal-fired power generation and the cement industry, and only limited studies have been conducted on hydrogen production processes in the petrochemical industry. This is the first demonstration targeting the NCC process.
Hanwha TotalEnergies plans to capture an average of 20 tons per day of carbon dioxide generated from the NCC over about 12 months under various concentrations and conditions. The captured carbon dioxide will be supplied to joint research and development institutions and used to produce prototype polyurethane adhesive materials.
Hanwha TotalEnergies' carbon capture pilot facility directly captures carbon dioxide from flue gas generated in petrochemical processes and has been pursued since 2021 as a national project led by Hanwha TotalEnergies with six participating institutions, including the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER).
Hanwha TotalEnergies invested about 10 billion won in building the pilot facility, completed construction over about 18 months from Dec. 2023 to Jun. 2025, and, after trial runs and stabilization, began full demonstration operations in Nov.
Through this demonstration, Hanwha TotalEnergies plans to secure absorbent technology optimized for petrochemical processes, accumulate data needed to design large-scale commercial carbon capture plants, and push ahead with full-scale investment and commercialization.
A Hanwha TotalEnergies official said, "This demonstration run is the first case of directly capturing carbon from the NCC, a core petrochemical process," adding, "We will accelerate securing competitiveness in eco-friendly technologies by linking various carbon utilization technologies currently under study with the results of this demonstration."