Oxy-fuel combustion research at the CANMET Energy Technology Centre

A novel combustion technique which involves the burning of fossil fuels in an atmosphere of O-2 and recycled flue gas has been shown to be an interesting approach for retrofitting existing power plants with CO2 capture capability. This technology, which is often called oxy-fuel combustion, also has the potential to influence new power plant designs including application to Rankine cycles and advanced Brayton cycles in order to achieve near zero emission power generation. The CANMET Energy Technology Center, which is the research and development arm of Natural Resources Canada, has been actively conducting research using this combustion approach. The program makes use of the Vertical Combustor Research Facility (VCRF) which is CANMET's most modern pilot facility for combustion research. The facility is capable of firing pulverized coal and natural gas using air or oxygen. It is one of the few research facilities operating in the world that can fire pulverized coal in a mixture of recycled flue gases and oxygen in order to simulate oxy-fuel combustion techniques. This paper will give an overview of oxy-combustion research activities at CANMET since 1994, including combustion characteristics and gaseous emission levels specific to oxy-fuel combustion. The paper will then outline the current program of research including a small-scale demonstration project being developed. Finally, a discussion of the application of oxy-combustion to a semi-closed gas turbine cycle will be made to illustrate the potential of this combustion method.