Clean coal collaboration

Praxair and Foster Wheeler North America have signed an agreement to jointly pursue demonstration projects that will incorporate clean coal technologies and integrated oxy-coal combustion systems into coal-fired power stations.

The companies expect to develop a coal-fired generating plant to reduce carbon dioxide stack emissions by more than 90 percent compared to a conventional coal-fired plant of a similar size.

Generating plants that burn opportunity fuels such as biomass and petroleum coke in combination with coal would also be able to effect similar reductions in CO₂ emissions. The two companies have agreed to share technical information to ensure successful integration of the combined systems.

Under the agreement, Foster Wheeler will develop and supply steam generators using oxy-coal combustion technology that can be installed in new or existing coal-fired power plants. Oxy-coal combustion is said to create a highly concentrated stream of CO₂ from a steam generator to facilitate carbon capture and sequestration.

Foster Wheeler expects that its first applications of oxy-coal combustion technology would involve the company's circulating fluidised-bed (CFB) steam generators. Foster Wheeler expects that oxy-coal combustion technology will be applicable to pulverized-coal (PC) steam generators as well.

Praxair will provide the upstream oxygen-supply facilities and the downstream CO₂ capture and gas-processing technologies and equipment.

‘We have already completed pilot and bench-scale testing of oxy-coal combustion in an R&D environment, and we look forward to accelerating this work under our agreement with Praxair,’ said Gary Nedelka, president and chief executive officer of Foster Wheeler North America. ‘The application of oxy-coal combustion will allow us to advance both our CFB and PC technologies in the area of carbon capture.’

The companies expect that their first joint commercial effort will be the previously announced demonstration project being pursued by the Jamestown, New York, Board of Public Utilities. The Jamestown project would be the first of its kind in the US and potentially an international model for future energy development.