The only product of combustion is water; in fact, ultra-pure, newly-minted “virgin” water!
As I mentioned in a comment in the Beyond Coal Team blog, converting coal-fired steam generation infrastructure to natural gas is more or less a misnomer. Virtually none of the steam-generation power plant can be used for natural gas-fired power generation, save the substation connecting it to the grid. Moreover, such a conversion will take a year or more to complete, during which time power generation ceases.
That the Sierra Club has been able to stop 162 (is that the current total?) coal-fired plants from either beginning or continuing operations is a testament to local activism and persistence.
About a year ago, I completed an international patent application covering technology I had developed, burning a hydrogen/oxygen fuel-mix to generate ultra-critical temperature, high-pressure steam. The system is scalable to volumes capable of driving gigawatt-scale steam-turbine power plants.
The immediate ramifications of this breakthrough are compelling…
The only product of combustion is water; in fact, ultra-pure, newly-minted “virgin” water!
Conversion to hydrogen-fueled steam-generation can proceed in parallel to continued coal-fired operations until the conversion is complete in less than six-months, allowing uninterrupted power generation for the benefit of downstream consumers.
Once completed, the new steam-generation infrastructure continues to drive the existing power generation infrastructure, albeit with zero carbon-footprint, and zero mercury emissions.
Operating in closed-cycle mode, deploying an integrated electrolyzer-generated hydrogen-cycle system, there are no emissions at all, as even the spent steam is re-routed into holding tanks for re-conversion to fuel components.
Operating in closed-cycle mode and using off-peak renewable energy (either wind or hydro-electric) represents the first commercially-available, gigawatt-scale renewable energy storage and retrieval system on the planet. All power generation produced in such a system qualifies for carbon-credits, and is contributory to the renewable energy portion of a state’s energy portfolio.
Optimum temperature and pressure conditions can be achieved at the turbine HP inlet within about 1.5 seconds, facilitating a broad spectrum of ancillary services uses, including black start, bootstrap, and rolling ready-reserve at very competitive cost-levels. The system is limited only by manufacturer-recommended turbine warm-up times.
This is an opportunity to offer coal-fired steam plant operators an option to cessation of operations, and shutting down the plant, thereby saving hundreds of local jobs. It is also an opportunity to bring an “atmospheric electrolyzer” manufacturing facility to that same community, creating new green-collar jobs in the process.
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