Power Plant and Method for Operating the Same

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This patent describes an improved method and apparatus for operating a combustion power plant (such as a fossil-fueled power station) using high-temperature oxygen-conducting membranes to extract oxygen from air for the combustion process. The innovation involves recirculating cooled and purified flue gas, reheating it using a heat exchanger with combustion gases, and then using the reheated flue gas as a flushing gas for the membrane unit. This new approach optimizes heat utilization, lowers energy consumption, and reduces hardware complexity compared to previous systems.

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• Power plants aiming to reduce CO2 emissions via oxyfuel combustion (carbon capture and storage applications)
• Industrial furnaces requiring efficient oxygen supply and flue gas recirculation
• Retrofitting existing fossil fuel power plants to improve efficiency and reduce emissions
• Large-scale boiler systems in steel, cement, or glass industries using membrane-based oxygen supply
• Any combustion process requiring controlled oxygen atmospheres for efficiency or emission control

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Lower overall energy consumption by eliminating the need for high-pressure air compressors and hot gas blowers
• Improved process efficiency via optimized heat recovery from flue gas streams
• Greater operational stability and lower membrane stress due to near-atmospheric process pressures
• Simplified hardware, as cooling, cleaning, and transport of hot flue gases at high temperature and pressure are no longer necessary (improves reliability and reduces maintenance)
• Enhanced suitability for carbon capture and storage by enriching CO2 concentration in flue gas
• Potential for easier and cheaper integration into existing power plants and industrial combustion systems

Technical Classifications (CPCs)

Inventors & Applicants

Patent Abstract

The combustion plant (1) according to the invention, comprising a burner (3) and a combustion chamber (2), is connected by way of a line (4a) to a high-temperature membrane (5c) for extracting the combustion oxygen from the air, wherein the membrane unit (5) has a feed line for a flushing gas on the permeate side. The combustion plant (1) further comprises a circulation element for recirculated flue gas (4a, 4b, Gk, Hk, Hh), wherein a heat exchanger (13) is connected upstream of the membrane unit (5) inside the flue gas line (4b). The method according to the invention for operating said combustion plant, in which carbon-containing fuel is burned in an oxygen/flue gas atmosphere, and in which the oxygen for combustion is produced from air by way of a membrane unit comprising a high-temperature membrane, and in which the flue gas is in part recirculated, is characterized by the steps that the recirculated flue gas is first cooled, optionally for a flue gas scrubbing process, the cooled flue gas is subsequently reheated to ensure the necessary operating temperature of the membrane, wherein the heating energy is extracted from a heat exchange with the flue gas having the corresponding temperature level of the combustion process, and the flue gas heated in this way is fed to the membrane unit as a flushing gas.