Pressurized oxy-coal combustion with flue gas recirculation pilot scale demonstration

One option to reduce the cost of gas separation is to increase CO{sub 2} concentration in the flue gas by eliminating nitrogen before combustion and by recycling part of the flue gas. Such a scheme is known as oxy-combustion with flue gas recirculation. For future coal-fired plants an alternative technology for CO{sub 2} separation seems to be the pressurized oxy-coal combustion based on the innovative process name ISOTHERM PWR. Among the advantage of the process for CO{sub 2} capture, there are the availability of a pressurized CO{sub 2} stream at boiler's outlet section and the absence of air. This strongly reduces energy penalties associated with CO{sub 2} conditioning imposed by transport requirements. In this paper, starting from a brief description of such a process, the basic design of a 48 MW pilot plant, based on this technology, is presented and the related technical choices are discussed. 7 refs., 5 figs., 3 tabs.