Technology

NET Power’s technology is simple:
We use natural gas to make clean, reliable, affordable energy.

We figured out how to make the problem (CO₂) part of the solution through a crucial innovation. Unlike existing technologies, the NET Power Cycle is closed to the environment.

NET Power works by combusting natural gas with pure oxygen in a combustor, producing CO₂ and water. We mix this with recirculated CO₂ and use it to spin a turboexpander, producing power. When the turboexpander exhaust cools, water and byproducts are removed.

What remains is CO₂. Most of the CO₂ is compressed and recirculated back to the turboexpander while a small portion exits the cycle, like a slowly overflowing bucket, and is captured. The captured high purity CO₂ can be easily sequestered or sold to industry. Nearly all CO₂ is ultimately captured through the process.

The NET Power Cycle.

Step 1

Air Separation: The NET Power Cycle begins by separating air into its components (including oxygen, argon, and nitrogen)

Step 2

Oxy-Combustion: Natural gas and oxygen combust resulting in CO₂ and water vapor

Step 3

Turboexpander: The CO₂ mixture expands and turns the turboexpander to generate electricity

Step 4

Heat Exchanger: The CO₂ mixture goes into the heat exchanger to cool

Step 5

Water Separator: Water is removed from the CO₂

Step 6

Compressor: CO₂ is repressurized, captured CO₂ is exported for sequestration or commercial use

Step 7

Recirculation: Recirculated CO₂ is reheated to be used again in the process

“Growing recognition of CCUS technologies’ role in meeting net zero goals is translating into increased policy support such as in the United States, where the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, coupled with funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, is expected to incentivize greater CCUS deployment.”

IEA World Energy Outlook, 2022

“Innovative technology from carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) developer NET Power could change everything about clean energy development in the U.S. and around the world.”

Clear Path

“The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act means that for the first time, carbon capture, removal, use and storage technologies are within reach for industries with the hardest-to-abate emissions, like steel, cement, refineries, and chemicals, as well as other key sectors like natural gas-based power generation. This is critically important since these sectors combined account for over a third of emissions in the U.S.”

Clean Air Task Force

“You have to build infrastructure. It’s born collaborative. And I think that is both a difficulty and a challenge with carbon capture, but it’s also an opportunity, because ultimately climate change is at its heart, a collaborative undertaking. We need to figure out how to work together on difficult stuff. And in that context, I see carbon capture as a good test particle for how we tackle a bunch of other difficult questions around the world, through collaboration, through partnership and through generosity.”

Julio Friedmann

Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University

NET Power’s technology is simple:We use natural gas to make clean, reliable, affordable energy.