The recipient of this three-year grant is Richard Axelbaum, PhD, the Stifel & Quinette Jens Professor of Environmental Engineering Science in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, who will use it to further develop his innovative staged, pressurized oxy-combustion (SPOC) technology. Axelbaum notes that ‘by staging the combustion, the temperature and heat transfer can be controlled in a way that has, so far, not been attainable’.

Oxy-combustion systems use oxygen, instead of air, to combust coal and produce a highly concentrated CO₂ stream that can be easily captured, and subsequently used or stored underground. The potential benefits associated with a fuel-staged combustion approach are: higher efficiency, reduced process gas volume, increased radiative heat transfer, reduced oxygen demands, reduced capital equipment costs, increased CO₂ purity entering the carbon compression and purification unit, and reduced auxiliary power demands. It is believed that these benefits will yield a lower cost of electricity than alternative approaches to pressurized oxy-combustion.

While first–generation oxy-combustion systems have shown some positive results, more research is necessary to develop systems to meet the US Department of Energy’s target of no more than a 35% increase in the cost of electricity produced from these plants. The €2.5 million grant offers the opportunity to advance in this direction.

Axelbaum will collaborate with the Electric Power Research Institute, Praxair Inc. and Ameren Corp. to design and construct a laboratory-scale pressurized oxy-combustor, and conduct experiments to characterize the process and further optimize the boiler and systems designs.