Nov 23 2009
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Lehigh University's Energy Research Center (ERC) to be used in the development of various heat recovering and reusing methods. The grant will be used in developing a method to reuse the heat generated in the carbon capture system during the carbon-dioxide compression process.
This research project focuses on minimizing the release of carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere. The power plant as a whole will be taken into consideration by the researchers from the Leigh University, instead of concentrating on individual components in the carbon capture system. This grant will also be used for training graduates to create computing models based on the carbon-dioxide capturing and compressing methods. They will be trained to evaluate each method in order to obtain the efficiency for each compression method used. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has funded this project through DOE.
The ERC produced a number of technologies with an aim to bring down the rate of greenhouse gases and toxic substance emissions, and to improve the operating features of the power plants. The Boiler OP, which is also known as the combustion optimization technology, is used by a Mexican oil-fired plant and a coal-powered plant in China. One of the ERC technologies captures and reuses water by condensing acid vapors and water in two different heat exchangers. The boiler was modified with alternations in order to reduce mercury emissions from the power plant, which is coal-fired. The ERC technologies are also used to bring down the cost of boiler slagging.
In the coal-fired plant, while burning a mixture of ground coal and air in a furnace or a boiler, electric current is generated. The water in the boiler pipes is transformed into steam. At the same time, carbon-dioxide is produced from coal and oxygen, which leaves the power plant with the flue gas. Carbon-dioxide is separated from the flue gas by using carbon-capture technologies, and the carbon that is now compressed is sent through a pipeline in an oil recovery process, which is involved in extracting oil from underground reservoirs.
Director of ERC, Edward Levy, states that the ultimate goal of this research project is to bring advancement in the operations of the power plants by reutilizing the heat generated through the compression of carbon-dioxide. This compression is brought about by an immense pressure of 2,200 pounds for per square inch. Unlike other carbon capture projects that increase the cost of energy generation and reduce the efficiency of the power plants, this ERC project will focus on evaluating different carbon compressors. This is believed to help the development of appropriate measures to bring down the cost of capturing carbon and improving the power plants.
Source: http://www3.lehigh.edu