Thursday morning, Fluor Corporation (FLR) and Munich headquartered privately owned E.ON Energie AG or E.ON said that the they have formed a strategic partnership to separate carbon from the flue gas of a coal-fired power plant using Fluor's Econamine FG+ carbon capture technology.
The Irving, Texas headquartered Flour said that a retrofitted pilot plant would start operation in 2010 at energy services provider E.ON's coal-fired power plant in Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
Flour, which provides engineering, procurement and project management services, said it would use the CO2 scrubbing process that complies with U.S. and EU environmental requirements. One advantage of CO2 scrubbing technology is the ability to retrofit conventional power plants already in operation, the company noted.
Fluor's patented and proprietary technology has been demonstrated at commercial-scale facilities for nearly 20 years. The technology uses monoethanolamine (MEA) as the solvent for efficient capture of C02. Fluor's further technology development and improvements will become the basis for the continued joint development with E.ON.
David Constable, president of Fluor's Power Group said, "We currently have 25 licensed Econamine plants already in commercial operation, many to produce chemical or food grade CO2, and an additional 10 Econamine FG+ licenses sold that will commence commercial operations within the next 18 to 24 months."
The next logical step, therefore, is to adapt this well-proven process to the flue gas conditions of coal-fired power plants. The pilot plant, retrofitted to the existing coal-fired power plant, will be designed for a flue gas volume flow of about 16,000 cubic meters per hour.
At this same Wilhelmshaven site, a second project is also planned. This project, called "50plus", is a coal-fired power plant, which is expected to achieve an efficiency of more than 50% by 2014, Flour noted.
FLR closed Wednesday's regular trading session at $179.96.
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