Analysis of zero emission power generation from SCWO of coal and development of an experimental facility for its investigation
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Decarbonization of electricity production is vital for curbing the effects of emissions on global climate change. Most projected pathways toward meeting emissions targets include a large contribution from carbon capture and storage. Many capture technologies impose a large energy penalty to separate and compress carbon dioxide (CO2). Deep saline aquifers are the largest and most distributed reservoirs for CO2 sequestration. However, neat CO2 injected in an aquifer is buoyant compared to the aquifer brine and requires an impermeable seal to prevent it from escaping the aquifer. An alternative technology, recently proposed by Heberle and Edwards, burns coal in supercritical water pumped from a saline aquifer. The entire effluent stream is sequestered, capturing all carbon and non-mineral coal combustion products in the process. This stream is denser than the aquifer brine and therefore offers a higher level of storage security. Aquifers without suitable structural trapping could be opened up for storage as a result. This technology also increases energy security in the U.S., allowing for the use of its coal resources while avoiding atmospheric pollution. In this work, a complete architecture employing supercritical water combustion (SCWC) is proposed, including a liquid oxygen-pumped air separation unit and regenerator system that heats and desalinates the incoming brine. A thermodynamic model is used to calculate the overall thermal efficiency of the plant, including all separation and storage energy penalties. In addition, an exergy analysis determines the least efficient parts of the proposed system. The details and assumptions of the model are discussed. Insights from the model and these analyses elucidate how the proposed system may be operated as a zero-emission electricity source, and the technical challenges that must be addressed for deployment. In order to determine the operating characteristics of the supercritical water combustor, an experimental facility was developed. A test apparatus was designed to study turbulent, hydrothermal diffusion flames for use in a SCWC power plant. The lab-scale combustor operates at 250 bar, with up to a 50 kW fi ring rate and 1600 K burner outlet temperature. Initial combustion studies have provided autoignition temperature data of methanol in supercritical water.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2012 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Mobley, Paul David |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Mechanical Engineering |
| Primary advisor | Edwards, Christopher |
| Thesis advisor | Edwards, Christopher |
| Thesis advisor | Cappelli, Mark A. (Mark Antony) |
| Thesis advisor | Mitchell, Reginald |
| Advisor | Cappelli, Mark A. (Mark Antony) |
| Advisor | Mitchell, Reginald |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Paul D. Mobley. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2012. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2012 by Paul David Mobley
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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