Objective

This objective of this activity is to:

• Identify the likely impacts of the fuel supply on the capture process
• Identify the likely impacts of the capture process on the fuel supply

Major Deliverables

• A list/matrix of possible fuel sources and capture processes
• Identification of major issues for each combination of fuel supply/capture process
• Documented requirements for the selection of power plant/fuel supply/capture process
• A plan for further analysis for selected combination during the evaluate phase.

Tasks

Specific tasks include the following:

• Undertake a preliminary fuel market study for each potential power plant location/type
• List all fuel supply sources (from fuel market study) and capture methods under consideration
• Identify likely parameters affecting capture process and fuel supply selection for each combination of fuel supply and capture process.  This may include consideration of:
  • Existing fuel supply agreements
  • Availability of various fuels at site(s)
  • Fuel transportation and storage issues
  • Space availability for fuel storage, plant construction and laydown areas
  • Likely concentration of CO₂ in gas stream entering capture process
  • Other species including impurities entering capture process
  • Integration of capture process into the power plant.  Temperatures and pressure implications.
  • Ambient conditions, temperature and availability of cooling water
  • Maximum unit size of power plant and capture trains
  • Capital and operational cost implications of each technology
  • Are technologies licensed.
  • Novelty of technology
  • Past experience of owner with similar technologies
  • Major construction limitations e.g. capability for modular construction, maximum vessel sizes for transport to site
  • Efficiency, parasitic power, heating / cooling requirements of capture process
  • Variations in CO₂ concentration with power plant output
  • Responsiveness of power plant and capture processes
  • Availability and any special storage requirements of materials and chemicals (e.g. CO₂ solvent, limestone, ammonia, urea etc) used in pre-treatment and capture process
  • Any significant differentiators in relation to operability, maintainability and availability of the power and capture plant technologies
  • Options to sell fuel (i.e. H₂/Methane) from a gasification process to others instead of use for power generation
  • Health, safety and waste management implications and local standards
• Identify any testing such as combustion and capture technology trials that maybe required in Evaluate phase
• Produce a written description of benefits/disadvantages for each combination of fuel supply and capture process
• Prepare a short list of combination(s) of power plant, fuel and capture process to be carried forward to evaluate stage through a multi criteria analysis.

Examples

• Strategic Analysis of the Global Status of Carbon Capture and Storage
• Cost and Performance Baseline for Fossil Energy Plants, Volume 1: Bituminous Coal and Natural Gas to Electricity, 2010 Edition
• South Heart gasification project embraces new coal beneficiation technology
• Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG): Technology, environmental implications and economics
• Gasification – Gasifipedia

Key Personnel

• Project Manager and staff (Project Controller and Document Controller)
• Engineering work-stream lead
• Process work-stream lead
• Project Engineers
• Power Plant operator
• Process provider representatives