Method of operating a power plant with recycled CO2

Details Method of operating a power plant with recycled CO2 Method of operating a power plant with recycled CO2

1999-04-27

2001-08-07

Casaregola, Louis J. (Department: 3746)

Power plants

Combustion products used as motive fluid

C060S039520

Reexamination Certificate

active

06269624

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to methods of operating power station plants, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for reducing the discharge of CO
2
and other harmful gases.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Machines with internal combustion burn their fuel in compressed atmospheric air and mix their combustion gases inherently with this air and the residual oxygen which is not utilized. In this process, the fuels, which are almost always carboniferous, produce, inter alia, CO
2
, which is considered to be a greenhouse gas. The common utilization of fossil fuels nowadays releases CO
2
quantities which constitute a risk, discussed worldwide, to the global climate. An intensive search for CO
2
-free technologies is therefore already under way.
Energy supply is nowadays determined by the utilization of fossil fuel energy in machines with internal combustion, the disposal of the highly diluted CO
2
taking place into the atmosphere.
The CO
2
separation from the exhaust gases with disposal by liquefaction, separation and sealing off from the atmosphere would be obvious. However, due to the large volumetric flows, such a plan cannot be put into practice.
A further known possibility is the recirculation of cooled-down exhaust gases into the intake of machines with internal combustion. This may take place to the extent that the oxygen of the air is just used up. In this case, however, the exhaust gas still remains mixed with the atmospheric nitrogen, and the CO
2
separation problem is thus only marginally reduced.
Furthermore, all air-operated internal combustion engines also produce nitrogen oxides, which act as air pollutants and the generation of which is controlled by costly measures.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, one object of the invention, is to provide a novel method of operating a power station plant of the type mentioned above to dispose of the accumulating CO
2
and to do so in an environmentally compatible manner, and at the same time another object of the invention is to eliminate the atmospheric nitrogen oxides which likewise accumulate and to maximize the efficiency gain of the power station plant.
The essential advantages of the invention may be seen in the fact that, here, a method is proposed in which the CO
2
is delivered in a pure form and under pressure for the purpose of subsequent liquefaction. In this case, the method is based on a CO
2
process with internal combustion, in which process, in order to heat the CO
2
mass located in the cycle, which is preferably effected with the aid of a gaseous fuel, only that oxygen quantity which is required for the oxidation of this very same fuel is supplied.
By appropriate tapping of CO
2
from the cycle at a suit-able point, the degree of charging and thus the output of the process may be controlled continuously. Subsequently, by condensing the CO
2
separated from the process, that physical condition of this gas is then achieved at which the accumulating CO
2
can easily be disposed of from an environmentally compatible point of view, in particular as far as the greenhouse problem is concerned.
A further essential advantage of the invention may be seen in the fact that action is hereby taken to counteract the fact that all air-breathing internal combustion engines also produce nitrogen oxides, which act as air pollutants and the generation of which has to be controlled by costly measures, this not least in the light of the restrictive laws worldwide concerning the admissible pollutant emissions. By virtue of the fact that no atmospheric nitrogen gets into the flame during recirculation operation with pure oxygen, no NO
x
is produced either. If the fuel should carry bound nitrogen along with it, slight NO
x
formation is certainly to be expected. However, since the excess gas constitutes a much smaller quantity than the exhaust gas during air operation, its aftertreatment is simpler and cheaper.
Furthermore, an essential advantage of the invention may be seen in the fact that the method can be realized with the aid of several types of gas-turbine circuits, the circuits according to the invention constituting a specific optimum solution in relation to the preset parameters, and the efficiency gain being maximized by the recuperative waste-heat utilization (given priority here) according to the invention in connection with at least one heat sink arranged downstream.
Furthermore, the circuit according to the invention is especially suitable for transforming its inherent potential with regard to the cooled cycle medium by virtue of the fact that the most important units of this power station plant, with the cycle taken as a basis here according to the invention, are accommodated in a common pressure vessel. All the cooling problems can thus be solved in the simplest manner while maximizing the efficiency.


REFERENCES:
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patent: 4528811 (1985-07-01), Stahl
patent: 5175995 (1993-01-01), Pak et al.
patent: 5724805 (1998-03-01), Golomb et al.
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patent: WO95/02115 (1995-01-01), None
patent: WO97/44574 (1997-11-01), None
“Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle Power Plant with CO2Capture”, Shao, et al., Energy Conversion and Management, Dec. 1995, pp. 1115-1128.

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