PCI Oxy-Syngas Mixer and Reheat Combustor Design for Clean Coal Power Wins Department of Energy SBIR Award


NORTH HAVEN, CT (May 28, 2008) -- Precision Combustion, Inc. (PCI) announced today that its new oxy-syngas mixer/injector and reheat combustor design has been competitively selected for a Phase I SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) award by the Department of Energy (DOE). The award will support development of this technology, offering an important efficiency-boosting component of a “zero emission” coal-derived oxy-fuel power system.

Oxy-fuel combustion burning coal-derived syngas in oxygen offers the potential for efficient “zero” emission power generation from coal. With only CO2 and water as the end products, the CO2 can cost-effectively be captured and sequestered, while also avoiding nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.

Significantly higher efficiency can be obtained from an oxy-syngas cycle by including a reheat combustor, but the reactive environment and presence of steam create challenge. PCI’s design offers the potential for high stability complete combustion in the resulting high steam, high temperature/pressure environment. Presently, there is no commercial re-heat combustor design for this aggressive combustion environment.

Dr. Shahrokh Etemad, Project Principal Investigator commented, “This injector design is based in part on a novel mixer concept for reactive components. We look forward to this project to help enable the application and commercialization of clean coal power generation technology. We’re also looking at spin-off applications for the technology.” Kevin Burns, PCI’s President adds, “This is an exciting new innovation with interesting potential, and we appreciate the DOE’s support for its development. The reheat combustor design shows promise within an oxy-fuel system, and we see some good broader potential for the mixer in the emerging hydrogen and fuel cell economy.


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