Air separation, flue gas compression and purification units for oxy-coal combustion systems

Air Liquide (AL) has been actively involved in the development of oxy-coal technologies for CO2 capture from power plants for almost 10 years. Large systems for oxygen production and flue gas purification are required for this technology. Air Liquide has been a leader in building large Air Separation Units (ASUs) and more developments have been performed to customize the air separation process for coal-fired power plants. Air Liquide is also actively involved in developing processes for purification of flue gas from oxy-coal combustion systems for enhanced oil recovery applications as well as sequestration in saline aquifers. Through optimization of the overall oxy-coal combustion system, it has been possible to identify key advantages of this solution: minimal efficiency loss associated with CO2 capture (less than 6 pts penalty on HHV efficiency compared to no capture), near zero emission, energy storage, high CO2 purity and high CO2 recovery capability.