Carbon capture

Doosan Babcock Energy is to start a significant new project to demonstrate its Oxyfuel technology for carbon capture in coal-fired power plants.

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) requires the separation of carbon dioxide from the main component in the flue gas - normally nitrogen.  In Oxyfuel firing, the separation is achieved by separating air into its two primary components, oxygen and nitrogen and firing the coal in the oxygen - which is diluted as necessary by recycled flue gas, predominantly carbon dioxide.

The £7.4m Oxyfuel 2 project is being supported by the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) under its Hydrogen Fuel Cells and Carbon Abatement Technologies (HFCCAT) Demonstration Programme.

There's support too from a plethora of industrial sponsors and university partners comprising Scottish and Southern Energy, E.ON, Drax Power, ScottishPower, EDF Energy , Dong Energy Generation , Air Products, and Imperial College and Nottingham University.

Doosan Babcock will modify its unique Multi Fuel Burner Test Rig at Renfrew to accommodate Oxyfuel firing on pulverised coal with recycled flue gas and demonstrate the operation of a full scale 40MW burner for use in coal-fired boilers.

The upgrade of the burner test facility is expected to be complete early in 2009, with the first Oxyfuel combustion demonstration by the end of March that year.