As of September 30, 2016, the Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technologies program at MIT has closed. The website is being kept online as a reference but will not be updated.

Polk Station Fact Sheet: Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Project

Company/Alliance: Tampa Electric, Siemens

Location: Big Bend Power Station, Ruskin, Florida, USA

Feedstock: Coal

Size: 30% side stream from 250 MW

Capture Technology: IGCC Pre-combustion (Siemens POSTCAP technology)

CO2 Fate: Injection into Lawson formation, a saline aquifer below the power station

Timing: Operated in April 2014 (probably only for a short period of time)

Scale Up: Cancelled

Motivation/Economics:

The US DOE awarded this project in July 2010 with a $8.9 million grant. This pilot plant was one of 10 selected by the DOE aimed at developing advanced technologies for capturing carbon dioxide from coal combustion. The project also recieved $168 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding

At the time of start-up the project was $3 million under budget.

Comments:

In December 2010, DOE announced that the a test of CCS was being included on the existing test of warm synthetic gas (syngas) clean-up at the Polk Station in Florida. The Shaw Group was awarded a contract by RTI International and is working with the DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory to design and build the sulfur removal demonstration unit. To date the warm gas clean up has been successful: there have been increased efficiency, reduced emissions and the COE has been reduced. The warm syngas test is to remove sulphur and other contaminates at elevated temperatures on a 30% side stream then inject the waste water into saline aquifers under the plant using 2 injection wells.

The CCS pilot is demonstrating Siemens POSTCAP technology which utilizes an amino acid salt formulation as a solvent for CO2 absorption. During the test the CO2 injection will be into the Ceder Keys-Lawson formation via one of the injection wells currently in use for the syngas study. Previous injection has shown that the geology is suitable to permanent storage of CO2.

As of February 2016, there is no indication online that the Polk pilot project continued out of the test phase. There are no published ammounts of CO2 stored or how long the project operated for.

Tampa Electric is now pioneering a different energy project at the site: The Regional Reclaimed Water Project is currently injecting contaminated waste water from the Polk power station 1.5km into the subsurface below the power plant site. The project has won many environmental awards since it began in 2014 before it was commissioned in March 2015.

Project Link: Tampa Electric press release (July 2010)

Other Sources and Press Releases:

Innovative reclaimed water project is now operating at Polk Power Station (April 2015)
Clean Coal: Carbon capture pilot begins at Polk IGCC plant (April 2014)
Tampa Electric receives final state approval to expand Polk Power Station (November 2013)
Polk Power Station warm gas clean-up & CCS demonstration. Presentation at the 6th SECARB Annual Stakeholders briefing [PDF] (March 2011)
Tampa Electric to test CCS technologies at Big Bend, Polk stations (July 2010)
Tampa Electric website
Siemens website