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Thermosolv LLC will work with commercialization partner, LP Amina, Inc., and the Western Research Institute (WRI) to develop and scale-up a high-temperature sorbent-based vacuum pressure swing adsorption oxygen production technology to a continuous oxygen production process for small-scale distributed applications. The goal is to develop an advanced oxygen production technology based on improved perovskite ceramic sorbents that will result in significantly lower oxygen cost compared to commercial state-of-the-art technologies. The sorbent-based oxygen production process utilizes oxygen-storage properties of perovskites to (1) adsorb oxygen from air in a solid sorbent and (2) release the adsorbed oxygen into a vacuum or a sweep gas such as CO2and/or steam for gasification systems or recycled flue gas for oxy-combustion systems. Based on bench-scale testing in WRI’s existing test facilities, a 1 ton per day (TPD) facility will be designed, assembled, debugged, and tested to develop credible process economics for small-scale modular power plants in the less than 5MW size range. LP Amina will develop a simulation model for reactor design and cycle optimization and work closely with Thermosolv to design the 1-TPD oxygen plant. Process controls will be developed by WRI. Procurement, fabrication, plant assembly, shakedown, and operations will be the responsibility of Thermosolv. This project leverages previous related work under DOE contract FE0024075.
None at this time.
The Thermosolv team has recently demonstrated that a new class of sorbents can improve the oxygen production economics by as much as 50 percent. The LCO technology is capable of producing lower-cost oxygen in a stand-alone configuration; however the cost benefits nearly double with complete thermal and process stream integration into an IGCC system. Other advantages of the technology include simplicity, modularity, and scalability. Development of a more efficient and stable, higher sorption capacity, newer class of materials operating at lower temperatures represents a major advancement in air separation technology. The cost of producing oxygen using sorbents can be considerably lower than for a cryogenic air separation unit.
