Air Liquide bags US carbon capture storage project
7 Oct 2010
Paris – The US department of energy (DOE) has appointed Air Liquide to participate in the development of FutureGen 2.0 – the world’s first full scale oxy-combustion power plant incorporating permanent CO2 capture and storage (CCS).
A recently executed cooperative agreement between the DOE and Ameren Energy Resources Co. LLC (AER) is part of a commitment by the DOE to award $1 billion in funding for the clean coal power project. This includes sub-awards to Air Liquide and its technology partner Babcock Wilcox Power Generation Group Inc. (B PGG).
The project represents the first full-scale production initiative for clean coal energy using oxy-combustion technology and CCS. It is designed to capture and store approximately 1.3 million tons of CO2 each year, 90% of the plant’s CO2 emissions.
The project began its first phase on 1 Oct, which includes engineering studies and economic analysis to re-power AER’s Meredosia, Illinois 200 MW power plant using clean-coal technology. Subsequent phases of the project will address further engineering and construction activities.
The oxy-combustion process being deployed is a result of innovative technology developed by Air Liquide and B PGG, which substitutes oxygen and recycled flue gases for normal combustion air in coal-fired boilers and incorporates a new CO2 purification process to produce a stream of CO2 suitable for direct capture and storage.
Air Liquide has been investing in oxy-combustion technology for more than a decade through R and participation in pilot projects in the US, France and Australia that demonstrate its technological viability, the company said.
These projects include the operation of a 30 MW unit in collaboration with B PPG in Alliance, Ohio; the implementation of natural gas oxyburners and CO2 purification equipment for the Lacq project with Total in southern France; and partnership in the Australian Callide oxyfuel project, to demonstrate integrated CO2 purification.
