Clean coal plant by Alstom
published: 22/09/08, 11:04
According to this article, it's not just theory:
Clean coal plant experimentation 09:15
22/09/08 - energy
Alstom experiments with a "clean" coal plant
It is a world first that could provide an interesting response in terms of capture and storage of greenhouse gases. In association with the Swedish Vattenfall, Alstom has just started the full-scale oxy-combustion experiment, with the world's first pilot CO2 capture unit located at Schwarze Pumpe, in Germany.
The world's first pilot CO2 capture unit, based on oxy-combustion technology developed by Alstom, entered into service on September 9 at the Schwarze Pumpe power station belonging to Vattenfall, in Germany. According to the Alstom press release, this 30 MW pilot project marks a major step in the field of CO2 capture and storage, and demonstrates the Group's commitment to the development of clean and economical energy production technologies.
For several years, Alstom engineers have been seeking to develop processes for capturing CO2 during the production of electricity. For this demonstration unit, Alstom supplied the oxy-combustion boiler which integrates all the components necessary to cover the complete oxy-fuel chain, i.e. from the production of oxygen to the purification and compression of CO2.
This pilot plant should operate for at least 10 years. On the basis of a cooperation agreement signed between Gaz de France and Vattenfall, the CO2 thus captured will be used to improve the recovery and storage of gas at Altmark, the second largest gas field in Europe. CO2 will be stored 1.000 meters underground in porous rocks where it is expected to remain for thousands of years, with no impact on global warming. The Schwarze Pumpe pilot unit will also serve as a technical reference for the construction, by 2015, of a larger demonstration plant (200-300 MW).
Second oxy-fuel combustion project in France at Lacq
For Alstom, represents a major advance in the field of carbon capture. A second European oxy-combustion project will be commissioned at Lacq, in the southwest of France, before the end of the year. Several other projects are under development around the world: in the United States, Sweden, Norway and Canada.
Oxy-combustion represents one of the three technologies in the race for CO2 capture, with post-combustion and pre-combustion. This solution consists in burning the fuel at very high temperature (2.500 ° C) in pure oxygen, rather than in air. The exhaust fumes no longer contain atmospheric nitrogen and are particularly concentrated in CO2. The objective is to treat the fumes to extract 2% pure CO99.
Ultimately, this solution could interest many industries such as cement or steel..