Alstom technical experts on Capitol Hill briefing

7-6-2013 — /europawire.eu/ — Alstom technical experts, led by John Marion, Director of R&D execution for Boilers and Bob Hilton, Director Power Technology for US Government Affairs, recently took part in a day long briefing on Capitol Hill titled “Advanced Coal Technology Showcase: A Pathway to Enhanced Coal Utilization.”

Sponsored by the Coal Utilization Research Council (CURC), the goal of the briefing was to increase awareness among Members of Congress and their staffs on industry’s progress on and commitment to developing advanced coal technologies, and the critical role of federal policyand support in bringing clean energy technologies from lab to commercial application.

Alstom’s team presented the company’s portfolio of Carbon Capture and Storage technologies, which are intended to achieve near-zero CO2 emissionsfrom coal-fired power plants. Specific processes highlighted in Alstom’s presentation included post combustion CO2 capture, oxy-combustion and chemical looping.

Alstom is currently conducting prototype scale tests on chemical looping at its test facility in Windsor, Connecticut, USA.

Chemical Looping is a potential “game changing” breakthrough technology with potential to significantly reduce the costs associated with carbon capture. Alstom’s facility is the first in the world to achieve sustained reactions, or so called “auto-thermal” operation for chemical looping technology.

The next steps in moving this promising technology towards commercial viability are optimizing performance in the prototype and developing a small field pilot demonstration.

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