Alstom to develop CO2 capture plant - AP

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Alstom to develop CO2 capture plant

Fri Jun 22, 8:01 AM ET

PARIS - French engineering company Alstom said Friday it won
a development contract with Germany power and gas provider
E.on AG to develop a carbon dioxide emissions capture plant in
southern Sweden.

"Because CO2 is recognized as the main greenhouse gas
contributing to global warming, development of this technology
is an important milestone towards reducing power industry
carbon emissions," Alstom said in a statement.

The plant, to capture emissions from a power plant at Karlshamn,
in the south of Sweden, will use Alstom's chilled ammonia-based
technology and is expected to begin operation in 2008. The
companies plan to introduce the technology into other Swedish
power plants after technical evaluation.

Alstom's chilled ammonia technology uses ammonia to capture
CO2 emissions that would normally escape into the atmosphere.


Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070622/ap_on_sc/france_alstom

[kestrel91316]

1. Don't tell me this is another pump it underground (aka sweep it under the rug) scheme?

[eppur_se_muova]

2. No details in the article ... but ammonia implies reaction w/CO2 to form urea

or ammonium carbamate. Both can be used as fertilizer, but using them for that purpose just re-releases the CO₂.

ammonium carbamate: 2 NH₃ + CO₂ --> NH₄⁺(H₂NCO₂^-)
urea: NH₄⁺(H₂NCO₂^-) + Δ ---> OC(NH₂)₂ + H₂O

[NNadir]

9. Oh the other hand, urea can be used to synthesize dimethyl carbonate.

One can get methanol for this purpose from the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide. If the hydrogen is made in France and not Germany, potentially this offers an oppportunity to "twice through" use of carbon as a fuel. This carbonate has been used as a cetane enhancement in diesel engines.

If one chooses not to make urea, and simply to decompose the carbamate, one could simply directly hydrogenate the carbon dioxide to give dimethyl ether. Dimethyl ether is under investigation (and in fact industrialization) as a flexible fuel for diesel, LPG, and natural gas operations. Japanese natural gas plants are already licensed to use it.

The synthesis of DME from carbon dioxide offers the possibility of converting many of the world's natural gas plants into batteries (for meeting peak loads) rather than dangerous fossil fuel waste creation devices.

I think the idea of sequestration is silly, but the creation of a market for carbon dioxide is not particularly an outrageous idea.

[Dead_Parrot]

3. Raises an interesting question...

Where do they get the ammonia from? Most commercial ammonia is made from natural gas, stripping the hydrogen off and combining it with atmospheric nitrogen - and dumping the carbon from the natural gas into the air (as CO). Capturing a billion tons of carbon at a power plant isn't going to help, if you have to dump a billion tons down the road at the chemical works...
:shrug:
Although anyone with a bit of chem. knowledge may wish to correct me. :dunce:

[Dogmudgeon]

4. Where do they get the ENERGY from?

If condensing ammonia could be used for energy, we would have already frozen half the globe solid.

--p!

[Dead_Parrot]

5. From the Karlshamn power plant.

Everybody wins!

[razzleberry]

6. it would help a lot

or it might,

if you could send the problem to some other country,
thus getting the carbon off your inventory.

[Dead_Parrot]

8. Unless the other country has a big glass dome over it

It's not going to help at all, really.

[DODI]

7. Here is a link from EPRI that give some detail on CO2 capture

Alstom is working with them on this. Ultimately, they see this as a way for power generators to continue to use coal but in a cleaner way, as the industry develops CO2 free alternatives. It is not a solution, but a step towards one.

http://www.epriweb.com/public/000000000001013718.pdf