Oxy-fuel combustion is the process of burning fuel using pure oxygen instead of air. Since the nitrogen component of air is not heated, fuel consumption is reduced, and higher flame temperatures are possible. Historically, the primary use of oxy-fuel combustion has been in welding and cutting of metals.
Advantages:
1. The mass and volume of the flue gas are reduced by approximately 75%.
2. Less heat is lost in the flue gas.
3. The size of the flue gas treatment equipment can be reduced by 75%.
4. The flue gas is primarily CO2, suitable for sequestration.
5. The concentration of pollutants in the flue gas is higher, making separation easier.
6. Most of the flue gases are condensable; this makes compression separation possible.
Low NOX production.
Challenges:
High installation and operating costs. Not mature technology. Lots of work on lab scale and small power plants but on large scale still needs work.
For general information please visit.
Linde Engineering shows several references
The simple Oxy-fuel combustion process by Linde can be seen on the link.