Oxy-hybrid Power Cycle with Advanced Heat Recovery Network

The invention inolves an advanced heat exchange network to enable a new oxy-hybrid power cycle that intrinsically produces a pure stream of carbon dioxide ready for use or compression and transport for storage. In order to meet the UK's 80% CO2 emission reduction target by 2050, and recognising the UK's continuing reliance on gas fired power generation, a substantial technology evolution is required over conventional technologies. This project will exploit advanced heat transfer technology and heat integration in the form of an unfired supercritical boiler providing all the steam required for a new oxyhybrid turbine cycle for electricity generation. This technology is capable of eliminating the energy and capital cost penalties associated with the introduction of CCS. The plant can be adapted with further features that will improve its power output and efficiency over a wide range of loads.

Our project partners, AOPC Ltd., have developed a new form of oxy-cycle, which is provisionally called the Advanced Oxy Power Cycle (AOPC), which has a very high thermal efficiency, and is more economic than the existing combined cycle plant even after allowing for the price of oxygen. Since developing the cycle AOPC Ltd. has identified a series of even more efficient forms, i.e. resulting in the discovery of a new order of power cycles. Manufacture of the new cycle is well within the capability of existing plant manufacturers without a prolonged development of program and the technology could be implemented within the next 20 years or less at a full commercial-scale. The technology has the possibility of revolutionizing the co-generation industry which is a multi-billion pound industry annually, and offering improvements in terms of a per cent or more even if CO2 capture is not practised. If it is combined with CO2 capture it can offer improvements in efficiency of over 6 or 7% beyond that provided by current systems. Such efficiency gains are worth millions of pounds of increased revenues in terms of electricity sales for utility and industrial scale plant.