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Alstom-Designed CO2 Capture Pilot Project Expected to Go Online

Posted on: Thursday, 28 February 2008, 09:00 CST

French engineering major Alstom, the Electric Power Research Institute and We Energies have announced that the first pilot project that uses chilled ammonia to capture CO2 from coal-fueled power plants is expected to commence operations.

Alstom has designed, constructed and will also operate the 1.7MW system that captures CO2 from a portion of coal-fired boiler flue gas at We Energies's Pleasant Prairie power plant, a 1,210MW coal-fired generating station.

Alstom's process uses chilled ammonia to capture CO2 and isolates it in a highly concentrated, high-pressure form. The firm said that, in laboratory testing, the process has demonstrated the potential to capture more than 90% of CO2 at a cost that is far less than other carbon capture technologies.

The demonstration project will reportedly provide the opportunity to test the process on a larger scale and to evaluate its potential to remove CO2 while reducing the energy used in the process.

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will conduct an engineering and environmental performance and cost analysis during the project, which will last at least one year. Through EPRI's collaborative R&D program, more than 30 organizations representing a large portion of the coal-fueled utilities in the US have committed to support this project.

Jean-Michel Aubertin, senior vice president of Alstom's energy and environment systems group, said: "We Energies's operational expertise and EPRI's financial and research collaboration support are perfect complements to Alstom's leadership in CO2 capture R&D. This plant will provide invaluable information in leading to commercialization of CO2 capture technology."

Source: Datamonitor

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