NETL is leading research efforts to make today's electric power plants operate more cleanly, and to enable tomorrow's systems to perform with near-zero emissions. Highly efficient combustion of fossil fuels is essential to achieving clean power generation, a national strategic goal. To this end, existing plants need technologies to help meet current and emerging regulations, notably for mercury, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter. Future plants need cost-effective technologies to achieve near-zero emissions and for CO₂ capture and long-term storage (sequestration). Efficient handling of fuel stream sorbents used to absorb, clean, capture, and separate combustion by-products for disposal or reuse is necessary to meet these goals.

To accelerate the development and evaluation of low-cost separation and capture technologies, NETL is designing and constructing a flexible, Modular CO₂ Capture Facility (MCCF). This facility will be able to simulate the operation of advanced fossil energy conversion systems in order to test new capture technologies on coal combustion flue gas, as well as on synthetic gas from advanced fossil fuel conversion systems. Experimental data collected for one capture technology ultimately can serve as a basis for further engineering scale-up decisions, and can help establish operational performance standards and targets for CO₂ capture.

In the flue gas mode, the MCCF can mimic coal-fired combustion processes. The combustor can be fired with natural gas, coal, or a combination of the two. As an example of the capacity of the system, the burning of approximately 40 pounds of pulverized coal per hour will produce 110 standard cubic feet per minute (scfm) of flue gas that is laden with various pollutants. A versatile “black-box” design will permit a particular capture/separation technology to be incorporated at various points along the flue gas path. If regeneration or recycling of the capture medium for economical reuse is required, this step can be readily integrated into the system.

MCCF simulates capture and separation technologies

In the fuel gas mode, the MCCF can blend various high-pressure gases ( e.g ., hydrogen, carbon monoxide, water, CO₂ , and minor components) to simulate the composition of gasification products, for example from integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) plants. Again, the design versatility of the MCCF system will permit researchers to install a capture technology, possibly including regeneration, at many points along the fuel gas path to test and verify the efficiency of the capture process at different locations within the system.

“Black-box” capture module can be inserted at many points in fuel stream

The MCCF has evolved as a versatile, multipurpose research facility. As the Life-Cycle Test System (LCTS), it was used to study SO₂ and NOx removal processes from flue gas. In its current configuration, it has been used to study CO₂ removal processes such as the ability of zeolitic filter media to remove CO₂ from flue gas. The MCCF offers industry, academic, and other sequestration stakeholders the opportunity to further develop CO₂ capture and separation technologies through cooperative ventures with NETL.

For more information contact: James Hoffman