Power Generation
The United States has an estimated 275 billion short tons of coal, enough to last 250 years at the current rate of consumption; and approximately 50% of all electric power is generated from coal. However, increased concerns about greenhouse gas emissions (predominantly carbon dioxide) and their effects on the global environment have put a damper on the construction of new coal fired power plants to replace imported oil.
Sequestration of the carbon dioxide produced during combustion of coal is being touted as one way to reduce GHG emissions; however, current technology is inadequate to achieve the desired goal. Carbon dioxide in flue gas is diluted with nitrogen making it more difficult to remove and any separation technology must be usable at elevated temperatures or suffer from additional loss in efficiencies.
Burning coal with pure oxygen, known as oxy-fuel combustion of coal, however, alleviates this problem because no real separation is required. It is simply necessary to cool the flue gas stream, compress it to liquefy the CO2 and pump it underground for long-term storage. An additional benefit is that any other contaminants in the coal such as arsenic and mercury flow with the CO2 and are prevented form entering the atmosphere, thereby making this an even cleaner process.
The SeprOx Industrial Oxygen System
Oxygen produced by cryogenic distillation has been too expensive to use for oxy-fuel combustion of coal. However, industrial ITM systems currently under development, including the SeprOx Industrial Oxygen Generator, are expected to have a capital cost half that of a cryogenic air separator and save more than two-thirds of the energy expended by one, making industrial ITM systems a viable partner for clean coal combustion with sequestration. Systems ranging from 500 – 3,500 tons per day will be necessary to meet the aggressive goal of replacing much of our electricity currently generated from imported oil with electricity created from clean coal processes using American coal.
The United States has an estimated 275 billion short tons of coal, enough to last 250 years at the current rate of consumption; and approximately 50% of all electric power is generated from coal. However, increased concerns about greenhouse gas emissions (predominantly carbon dioxide) and their effects on the global environment have put a damper on the construction of new coal fired power plants to replace imported oil.
Sequestration of the carbon dioxide produced during combustion of coal is being touted as one way to reduce GHG emissions; however, current technology is inadequate to achieve the desired goal. Carbon dioxide in flue gas is diluted with nitrogen making it more difficult to remove and any separation technology must be usable at elevated temperatures or suffer from additional loss in efficiencies.
Burning coal with pure oxygen, known as oxy-fuel combustion of coal, however, alleviates this problem because no real separation is required. It is simply necessary to cool the flue gas stream, compress it to liquefy the CO2 and pump it underground for long-term storage. An additional benefit is that any other contaminants in the coal such as arsenic and mercury flow with the CO2 and are prevented form entering the atmosphere, thereby making this an even cleaner process.
The SeprOx Industrial Oxygen System
Oxygen produced by cryogenic distillation has been too expensive to use for oxy-fuel combustion of coal. However, industrial ITM systems currently under development, including the SeprOx Industrial Oxygen Generator, are expected to have a capital cost half that of a cryogenic air separator and save more than two-thirds of the energy expended by one, making industrial ITM systems a viable partner for clean coal combustion with sequestration. Systems ranging from 500 – 3,500 tons per day will be necessary to meet the aggressive goal of replacing much of our electricity currently generated from imported oil with electricity created from clean coal processes using American coal.
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