|
09.01.2008 
One of the great hopes for lower carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions is the so-called
IGCC technology. A coal-fired power plant equipped with this technology would have
the harmful greenhouse gases removed before or after the combustion of the fuel.
No power plants currently use this technology because it lowers efficiency to the
point that the plants would not be economically competitive. Power utilities are
planning to build IGCC power plants which will begin operating after 2014.
Rather
than using normal air for combusting the gases, the invention of Frank Hannemann
of Erlangen uses pure oxygen and carbon dioxide. The exhaust gas then consists
only of steam and CO2, and the latter can easily be removed from the condensing
water. Hannemann’s process is more efficient because a higher portion of the
combustion gas is used compared with the conventional IGCC process.
The technology could also be used to boost the efficiency of biomass power plants.
|
