Hot Topic Hour on August 12, 2010 – Update on Oxy-fuel Combustion Technology
Oxy-fuel combustion may offer the fossil fueled power producing utility industry the solution to a number of significant problems – mandated GHG reduction, regulations requiring near zero emissions of a growing number of pollutants, high capital costs of flue gas cleaning equipment and increasing fuel and operating costs. When used in a pulverized coal-fired boiler, the oxy-fuel process produces a concentrated stream of CO2 which may allow the CO2 to be captured for use in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects or underground storage in a more cost effective manner compared to post combustion capture of CO2 from an air-fired boiler. In addition, when the process is optimized, it could significantly reduce the emissions of all regulated pollutants from the stack gases. The oxy-fuel technology is less complex than other clean coal technologies and the process can be retrofit to existing coal-fired plants or incorporated into new plant designs. In either case, the adoption of oxy-fuel combustion could be more cost effective and require less capital than a conventional plant with all of the extra air pollution control equipment required to meet current and future emission limits. Also if oxy-fuel combustion is combined with circulating fluidized bed technology, it should allow the combustion of a wide range of fuels including co-firing of all forms of biomass, sludge and waste with coal or as the only fuel.
The speakers listed below will update us on the status of oxy-fuel combustion technology, describe their experience with the design, construction and operation of new or retrofit fossil fueled power plants utilizing oxy-fuel combustion and discuss the costs and benefits associated with utilization of oxy-fuel combustion in both retrofit of existing plants and new construction and how these costs and benefits related to fuel type. They will describe new equipment designs, technology and systems being developed to improve oxy-fuel combustion, discuss the research and development that must be conducted to perfect this technology and address how the oxy-fuel technology compares to other technologies under development and testing to achieve “zero emissions” and reduce GHG’s.
Dennis McDonald P.E., Manager of Functional Technology and Steve Moorman Manager of Business Develop for Advanced Technologies at The Babcock & Wilcox Company - Advancing Clean Energy Technologies Oxy-Combustion Update “Changing climate and rising carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere have driven global concern about the role of CO2 in the greenhouse effect and its contribution to global warming. Since it has become widely accepted as the primary anthropogenic contributor, most countries are seeking ways to reduce CO2 emissions in an attempt to limit its effect. This effort has shifted interest from fossil fuels, which have energized the economies of the world for over a century, to non-carbon emitting or renewable technologies.”
Timothy Fout, Project Manager in the Existing Plants Division of the U.S. Department of Energy, NETL will give an overview and status update on the oxy-combustion R&D being conducted by the US DOE/NETL existing plants program.
David Thimsen of EPRI will discuss the achievements of oxy-coal technology developers to date and development requirements going forward. If public policy requires that CO2 from coal-fired combustion be captured and stored, preliminary economic analyses indicate that oxy-coal power generation technology could be competitive and may be the low-cost power generating option under this constraint. However, oxy-coal technology faces development challenges that post-combustion and pre-combustion CO2 capture do not face.
Dr. Minish Shah, a Senior R&D Manager in the Hydrogen and Energy Technology Group at Praxair will discuss the near-zero emissions oxy-combustion flue gas purification technology that Praxair is developing with support from the U.S. DOE. This technology will reduce atmospheric emissions of CO2 by 99%, SOx by 99%, NOx by > 95% and mercury by >99% compared to a state of the art power plant operating in air-firing mode. His presentation will provide a brief overview of the process concept, potential benefits and the results from the small-scale tests conducted in Praxair labs.
To register for the "Hot Topic Hour" on August 12, 2010 at 10 a.m. CDT (Chicago time), click on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/FGDnetoppbroch/Default1.htm
Bob McIlvaine
President
847 784 0012 ext 112
rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com