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Powerspan: Assessment Shows Postcombustion Capture Tech Is Commercial Ready

An evaluation of Powerspan Corp.’s ECO2 post-combustion carbon dioxide (CO2) capture technology by global engineering firm WorleyParsons Group at FirstEnergy Generation Corp.’s R.E. Burger Plant near Shadyside, Ohio, concludes that the 1-MW pilot test facility is well-designed and instrumented. The results can be reliably used to design, build, and predict performance of a larger, commercial size plant, the group reportedly said.

The WorleyParsons assessment will be made available to prospective customers and partners. Using design information based on the pilot results, the report concludes that a retrofit project could be implemented at less than $40 per ton of CO2 captured and compressed for a project size of 220 MWe net.

The WorleyParsons cost estimate is based on data derived from the ECO2 pilot for 90% CO2 capture with steam extraction for regeneration of less than 1,000 Btu/lb of CO2. This energy requirement is an improvement over previously reported values and results from optimization of the pilot facility process.

As part of the assessment, the WorleyParsons team visited the pilot test facility and confirmed the objectives for the pilot and the testing plan. In the process, it verified the overall integrity of the ECO2 process; verified that the pilot is constructed and operated as was intended; verified location and operation of critical instruments; reviewed the instrument calibration logs; monitored operator actions and pilot plant response; and examined sample testing procedures and documentation of results.

Powerspan said in a statement that the group had confirmed automated data acquisition, that the data is a meaningful basis for a scale-up design from the pilot, and “assessed that the ECO2 pilot is a good representation of a process that can be scaled-up to a larger, commercial size plant.”

WorleyParsons also reportedly assessed the performance and cost implications of commercial scale-up and retrofit of the ECO2 technology to a 220-MW coal-fired power plant based on operating conditions provided by Powerspan, and confirmed by the ECO2 pilot facility operation. “This high-level scale-up analysis provides estimates on performance, emissions, equipment sizing, and steam cycle modifications,” Powerspan said.

The study also includes the sizing of the ECO2 process equipment required for scale-up, the impacts of the ECO2 process and CO2 compression on the plant’s net generation, and an overview of the reliability and maintenance considerations based on the current status of the process design.

Powerspan’s ECO2 technology is a post-combustion CO2 capture process that uses a proprietary solvent to capture 90 percent of CO2 from the flue gas of coal-fired power plants. Once the CO2 is captured, it is dried and compressed and is ready for pipeline transport and sequestration.

Source: Powerspan, WorleyParsons, POWERnews

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