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Wilhelmshaven Station Fact Sheet: Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Project

Company/Alliance: Fluor and E.ON Kraftwerke (E.ON)

Location: E.ON’s Wilhelmshaven plant located north of Bremen, Germany

Feedstock: Coal

Size: 3.5 MW slipstream from 757 MW plant

Capture Technology: Post-combustion. Fluor’s Econamine FG PlusSM technology (90% capture rate)

CO2 Fate: Vented

Timing: Started operation October 2012

Motivation/Economics:

To test Fluor's Econamine FG PlusSM technology

Comments:

The plant was constructed in 2011, commissioned in 2012 and has been operated since October 2012. And by June 2014, 8'000 tonnes had been captured. However as the project didn't have a storage facility these emissions had to be vented.

The basis of Econamine FG is that it uses a proprietary formulation of mono-ethylene amine (MEA), which in turn increases its CO2 removal efficiency while also reducing the steam requirements. The process incorporates two energy savings features, one in the absorber for amine cooling and one in the stripping section, to increase the overall energy efficiency of the process.

A key feature of this pilot plant is the one button start/stop concept. This allows the plant to automatically come on line when the power plant operator wants to capture CO2. The fully automatic start-up can get the plant to steady state in two hours from a cold start or within 20 minutes from a warm start. 

The project site at Wilhelmshaven has now turned into a testing facility. It is dormant for periods of time, and even the site has sustained winter freezing damage. As far as the current publications indicate Fluor and E.ON are not going to disband the project site and the site is still being used as a testing facility.

Project Link: Wilhelmshaven project webpage

Technical Papers

Lessons Learned from the Operation of a 70 Tonne per Day Post Combustion Pilot Plant at th e Coal Fired Power Plant in Wilhelmshaven, Germany [PDF] Peter Radgen et al. GHGT-12. Energy Procedia 63 ( 2014 ) 1585 – 1594

Other Sources and Press Releases:

Lessons Learned from the Operation of a 70 Tonne per Day Post Combustion Pilot Plant at the Coal Fired Power Plant in Wilhelmshaven, German (2014)
E.ON Post-Combustion Capture Projects for a Cleaner Future of Energy

Positive outlook towards carbon capture but cost question remains (June 2014)
Fluor Econamine FG+ Post Combustion Capture operating experience. 2013 Sydney Symposium on Carbon Capture [PDF] Initial Results from Fluor's CO2 Capture Demonstration Plant Using Econamine FG PlusSM Technology at E.ON Kraftwerke's Wilhelmshaven Power Plant
Fluor's Econamine FG Plus (March 2013)