Oxy-fuel Combustion for Carbon Capturing and Storage (CCS) to mitigate CO2 emissions

Oxy-fuel combustion for Carbon Capturing and Storage (CCS) is a clean combustion alternative to mitigate carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from coal power plants. Alternatives include: oxygen-enhanced combustion (refers to the combustion in an oxygen concentration more than 21 vol-% in nitrogen) and oxy-fuel combustion (refers to the combustion in an oxygen-carbon dioxide atmosphere) with flue gas recirculation.

The objective of the doctoral dissertation of MSc (Tech) Milena Rodriguez Ávila is to understand the chemical and physical processes that characterise bituminous coal char under both aforementioned alternatives and focuses on how the oxygen content affects overall conversion rates and particle surface temperatures.

The purpose of the experiments was to obtain the coal char characteristics during oxy-fuel combustion. Then the kinetic parameters were determined by evaluating air-combustion models which describe the behavior of the fuel in that particular atmosphere. In particular, this study will provide insight into the reasons for unburned carbon in pulverised coal boilers used in power plants.

The importance of fuel characterisation under oxy-fuel combustion is because it can be applied in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for simulating different type of boilers used in power plants and therefore to predict efficiency, emissions and selection of material.

Public defence of a doctoral dissertation on Wednesday, 5 December

The doctoral dissertation of MSc (Tech) Milena Rodriguez Ávila in the field of Power Plant and Combustion Technology “Study of Oxy-Fuel Combustion of Single Coal Char Particles: Experimental and Modelling” will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Science and Environmental Engineering at Tampere University of Technology (TUT) in the Konetalo Building (address: Korkeakoulunkatu 6, Tampere, Finland), Auditorium K1702, on Wednesday, 5th of December 2012, at 12:00 noon.

The opponents will be Professor Ryszard Bialecki (Silesian University of Technology, Poland) and Professor Jukka Kontinen (University of Jyväskylä, Finland). Professor Antti Oksanen from the Department of Energy and Process Engineering at TUT will act as the Custos.

Further information: Milena Rodriguez Ávila, tel. +358 044 0723 294, milena.rodriguez@tut.fi