GLOBAL CCS INSTITUTE

Mountaineer Validation Facility

Project Proponents

American Electric Power (AEP), Alstom, Battelle Memorial Institute.

Funding support was provided by the US Department of Energy.

Location

New Haven, West Virginia, United States

Project Status

Completed. The pilot came on-line in September 2009 and was

operated until the end of May 2011.

CO2 Capture Capacity

Approximately 100,000 tonnes per annum

CO2 Capture Source

AEPs Mountaineer 1,300 MW supercritical, pulverized coal power

plant - the pilot capture system processed a 20 MWe equivalent
slip stream of flue gas

Capture Type

Post-combustion capture

Capture Method

Chilled Ammonia Process (CAP)

Storage Type & Formation

Two injection zones were used the Rose Run sandstone

formation and part of the Copper Ridge dolomite formation (called
the B-Zone)

Project Information
This project was the worlds first to undertake both the capture and storage of CO2 from a coal-fired
power plant and represented a significant scale-up of the then previous CAP field pilots by Alstom (We
Energies Pleasant Prairie, Karlshamn).
The project involved testing Alstoms chilled ammonia CO2 capture technology on a 20-MWe flue gas
slipstream at AEPs 1,300-megawatt electrical (MWe) coal-fired Mountaineer power plant. The testing
program began in early September 2009 and was completed at the end of May 2011. Over this period,
the Validation Facility incurred over 6,500 operating hours for a total of approximately 51,000 tonnes of
CO2 captured.
Alstom has reported the following process results with respect to the CAP (as tested at Mountaineer):

Capture rates from 75% (design value) to as high as 90%

CO2 purity of greater than 99%

Energy penalties within a few percent of predictions from process simulation models

Robust steady-state operation during all modes of power plant operation, including load
changes

Availability of the CCS system greater than 90%

Injection of the captured CO2 began in October 2009 into two deep saline formations using two on-site
injection wells AEP-1 into the Copper Ridge dolomite (depth of 2,500 metres / 8,300 feet) and AEP-2
into the Rose Run sandstone formation (depth of 2,350 metres / 7,800 feet). A total of approximately
37,000 tonnes of CO2 was stored in these two formations 27,000 tonnes into Copper Ridge, 10,000
tonnes into Rose Run.
The Rose Run Sandstone and Copper Ridge B Zone are well contained vertically with excellent
caprock consisting of thick layers of dense and impermeable dolomite, shale, and limestone

GLOBAL CCS INSTITUTE

Mountaineer Project

formations. The primary confining layer above the Rose Run Sandstone is the Beekmantown Dolomite,
which is approximately 170 metres / 550 feet thick. The primary confining layer above the Copper
Ridge B Zone is the upper Copper Ridge Dolomite which is approximately 95 metres / 310 feet thick.
Additionally, there are dolomites, shales, and limestone formations above these layers that provide
very substantial secondary layers of containment for the captured CO2.
The storage system also included three injection zone monitoring wells. A monitoring program
continued after cessation of CO2 injection (in accordance with the Underground Injection Control
permit).
Additional information on the Mountaineer Validation Facility can be found at the following:
Gary Spitznogle, September 2014. AEP CCS program Overview (presentation)
Alstom Power, 2012. AEP Mountaineer Validation Facility (MVF) factsheet
Kozak, F., et al, August 2011. CCS Project: Chilled Ammonia Process at the AEP Mountaineer Plant,
COAL-GEN Conference & Exhibition.
https://www.aep.com/environment/climatechange/carboncapture.aspx