Oxy-Fuel Combustion Capture:

During oxy-fuel combustion the fuel is combusted in the presence of nearly pure (approximately 98%) oxygen (O2) to ensure that the products of combustion, collectively called flue gas, contain carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) with only trace amounts of other gases (see equation C) (Simbeck & Roekpooritat, 2009). The CO2 can more easily be removed from this flue gas than from flue gas produced in conventional combustion, a process in which CO2 is typically combusted in air made up of roughly 79.9% N2, which dilutes the CO2 concentration in the flue gas (see equation D) (MIT, 2009).

equation C) CxHy(s) + (x + y/4)O2(g) → xCO2(g) + (y/2)H2O(g), where x and y are variables

equation D) CxHy(s) + (x + y/4 + 1)O2(g) + N2(g) → xCO2(g) + (y/2)H2O(g) + 2NO, where x and y are variables

CO2 Reduction:

The average oxy-fuel combustion plant captures approximately 92.6% of CO2 emissions (Simbeck, 2009a).

Advantages:

Disadvantages: (Simbeck & Roekpooritat, 2009)

Efficiency Losses:

Cost Estimates: