|
DOE - Fossil Energy Techline - Issued on: October 19, 1999 Praxair to Develop Advanced Technology for Reducing Costs of Extracting Oxygen from AirThe Federal Energy Technology Center, part of the Department's Office of Fossil Energy, has selected Praxair, Inc. of Tonawanda, NY, to study a new way to separate oxygen from the air at potentially much lower costs than is possible today. Pure oxygen is a key feedstock for future power plants as well as for many chemical manufacturing processes in common use today. One conventional method for producing large quantities of oxygen today is to use cryogenic air separation to cool air to the point it condenses into a liquid. At these super-low temperatures, air can be separated into oxygen, nitrogen, and other components. The technology is very energy-intensive and expensive. Another technique is called pressure swing adsorption which can involve a complicated array of moving parts. Praxair will join DOE's program to develop an alternative approach that avoids these drawbacks. The company will develop a ceramic oxygen separation membrane that works at the higher temperatures common to many energy and industrial processes. Over the last several years, a class of ceramic materials has been developed which permits only oxygen ions to pass through them at elevated temperatures. To date, however, only laboratory experiments have been conducted on these materials. Praxair will engage intensive efforts to fully understand the unique properties of the these ceramics. The five year award, which could approach $12 million, will address the issues of materials, manufacturing, processing, engineering and system development. The project will be 50% cost shared by Praxair. A future use of these "oxygen transporting membranes" will likely be in advanced coal-fired electric power plants. DOE is working with the power industry to develop an advanced method for generating electricity by first changing coal to a gas, rather than burning it directly. Virtually all of coal's pollutant-forming impurities can be removed from the gas. The gas can then be burned cleanly in a gas turbine - much like natural gas. The technology is termed "integrated gasification combined cycle." High-purity oxygen is necessary to upgrade the quality of the coal-derived gas that is produced by the coal gasifier. Coal-derived gases could also be used as chemical building blocks for future liquid fuels and chemicals. Reducing the cost of oxygen, however, is vital to improving the economics of these processes. The Federal Energy Technology Center is the research arm of the Energy Department's Office of Fossil Energy. - End of TechLine - For more information, contact: Technical contact: |