Advanced Oxyfuel Boilers and Process Heaters for Cost Effective CO₂ Capture and Sequestration
Project # 41147

Primary Performing Organization:
Praxair, Inc.

One economical solution to overcoming high carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from conventional combustion systems is to switch to oxy-fuel combustion.  This project has been designed to improve the economy of CO₂ capture by developing a novel ceramic oxygen transport membrane (OTM) and integrating it with fossil fuel combustion systems to improve both boiler efficiency and CO₂ recovery.  In turn, the more efficient oxy-fueled boilers can economically provide a significant portion of the required reduction in greenhouse gases.  See boiler diagram.

A number of studies have shown that recovering CO₂ from the flue gas at a pulverized coal fired boiler will significantly increase the cost of electricity.  The main reasons are that the volume of gas is very large and the concentration of CO₂ is low, typically less than 15%.

The project objectives are to:

• Identify the optimal design, based on technical performance; identify and demonstrate the most promising OTM materials for the integrated system; and develop a conceptual design for a laboratory scale boiler simulator.
• Perform economic analyses throughout the program to ensure that the novel boiler will bring economic value to both the industrial customers and to the participants.

Integration of OTM technology to support oxy-fuel combustion will significantly reduce the complexity of CO₂ capture.  This technology will result in a much lower volume of flue gas and therefore higher thermal efficiency, lower cost electricity, and lower emissions compared to conventional systems.

Contact:
Project Manager:  Timothy Fout, timothy.fout@netl.doe.gov

Related Papers and Publications:

• Advanced Oxyfuel Boilers Fact Sheet [PDF]