Under this process, the coal is burned in almost pure stream of oxygen (95-99% purity). Initially, nitrogen is separated from air to produce oxygen which is subsequently used in the combustion process. Burning the fuel in this manner produces water and highly pure CO2 exhaust that can be captured at relatively low-cost through cooling and compression that condenses and separates the two by-products. The cost involved in producing a pure stream of oxygen is high. Developing technologies in oxygen and ion transport membranes have the potential to reduce the cost of oxygen production and increase oxyfuel-combustion’s cost-effectiveness. There are a limited number of commercial scale oxy-combustion technologies that are currently being researched around the world. In North America, the Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group, Inc. and Air Liquide successfully operated a 30 MW generator in “full oxy-combustion mode” and are continuing research into the different types of coal mediums and plant designs that optimize carbon capture in different oxyfuel-combustion models.

Other Terms

	Ocean Sequestration		Ocean Acidification		Ocean Fertilization
	Ozone precursors

Power Plant CCS - Glossary