OXY-KRAFT RB

Start date: 31 October 2023

End date: 30 October 2026

Project IP: José Luis Sanchez Cebrián

Contact: jlsance@unizar.es

Kraft recovery boilers, i.e. boilers that burn spent liquor from the pulping industry (black liquor) and recover pulping chemicals, generate electricity and heat. Black liquor is the most important biomass-based energy source in Finland and worldwide. The aim of the project is to enable the operation of Kraft recovery boilers in oxy-fuel mode. This would open up opportunities for various integrated green technologies, such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage or utilisation. Around 220 million tonnes of black liquor are produced worldwide, with the United States being the largest country with around 60 million tonnes per year. The estimated average price of an air boiler (1 Mton BL/year, 1.3 Mton CO2) is 200-300 MEur. The recent US Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provides a tax credit of $85/tonne CO2 for carbon capture, which translates into approximately $110M/year in tax credits, a powerful incentive. However, the shift to oxygenating conditions is expected to strongly influence the overall process. To achieve the objectives, laboratory experiments will be carried out on the chemical details of black liquor behaviour, corrosion and material selection, kinetic modelling of emissions, CFD modelling of various processes, techno-economic aspects of integrated processes and process design. The project contributes to the TRI6 challenges by enabling i) decarbonisation of negative CO2 emissions from the carbon cycle, ii) integration of resource and energy efficient industrial energy systems, iii) carbon sequestration for product use.

Project PCI2023-146009-2 funded by MCIN/AEI /10.13039/501100011033 and co-financed by the European Union.

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