DecarbonICE - turning shipboard CO2 emissions into dry ice pellets for easy transport

The Danish start-up DecarbonICE aims to develop a full CO₂ transport value chain with CO₂ in solid form a.k.a. dry ice. DecarbonICE wishes to demonstrate several important benefits compared to CO₂ transport in liquid form in pressurized cryogenic tanks.

In the DecarbonICE concept dry ice is transported in pellet form in standard 20 ft containers with extra insulation, but without active cooling. The transport takes place at atmospheric pressure and at a temperature of minus 78.5°C. The safety philosophy for transport of CO₂ is therefore like transport of natural gas as LNG, namely at atmospheric pressure and low temperature.

DecarbonICE has just completed an important milestone by transporting dry ice at sea in a container from Århus in Denmark to Reykjavik in Iceland. The container was first transported on road by truck for 100 km from the dry ice loading site to the Port of Århus. The smooth intermodal shift from truck to ship was demonstrated at the port without any intermediate storage needs.

The transport of the DecarbonICE container took place on the deck of Eimskip’s Bruarfoss - a 2.150 TEU Container ship flying the Faroe Island Flag. The container was handled like any other container in the ports and on board the ship. Each DecarbonICE container can carry 20 tons of dry ice, and the transport loss of CO₂ due to sublimation was measured to 0.3% per day.

Among the main benefits of its concept, DecarbonICE emphasizes safety, since transport takes place at atmospheric pressure as well as the use of an existing container transport chain which reduces the CAPEX needs and which can be scaled very fast. In addition, the cost of a DecarbonICE container is 15-20 times lower than an ISO tank container for the same amount of liquid CO₂, and the cost of a container ship with containers for transport of 20.000 tons of CO₂ is 60% lower than the similar cost for a LCO₂ tanker. Intermodal shifts are straightforward between transport by truck, ship, train or barge, and without a need for extensive safety zones. Loading and unloading is straightforward, and the dry ice containers can be mixed with other containers providing a large flexibility and allowing a gradual build up.

The DecarbonICE solution requires additional CAPEX and OPEX to transform captured and liquefied CO₂ into dry ice, and to a much smaller degree to convert dry ice back into liquid or gas form. These additional costs are, however, fully recovered by lower costs for the transport system and in particular for transport that includes a maritime leg.

DecarbonICE now continues the commercialization of its solution starting with a smaller project of transporting CO₂ captured from a Biogas plant.