A Global First in CCS Technology
SaskPower’s Boundary Dam 3 CCS Facility (BD3), located near Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada is the world’s first fully-integrated and full-chain post-combustion carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility on a coal-fired power plant. The full-chain cluster of facilities is close to the BD3 facility, demonstrating and operating proven and safe CCS practices. This operating facility provides insight into technology and other requirements which are not available anywhere else in the industry.
The Challenge
Around the world, coal-fired power plants are among the largest sources of CO₂ emissions, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas levels. The challenge is to find a way to use coal for electricity generation where needed while minimizing its environmental impact. Traditional coal-fired power plants emit large amounts of CO₂, sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and nitrogen oxides (NOx), which contribute to climate change and air pollution. The critical need is to reduce these emissions in a manner that aligns with global climate goals, without completely halting energy production from coal in the near term.
The BD3 CCS Facility began operation in the fall of 2014 and, in its early days, focused on addressing design deficiencies. Many of the most valuable lessons came from unforeseen operational challenges that surfaced over time, which were addressed through hands-on experience. As the first facility of its kind to implement CCS technologies to significantly reduce emissions from a coal-fired power plant, it faced numerous engineering challenges that needed to be resolved to achieve the operational success it enjoys today.
Design Deficiencies
Some of the corrective actions undertaken to address process deficiencies include:
- Integrated Operations: The CCS facility and the power plant are integrated, meaning any disruption to either facility affects the other. Ensuring that equipment is working correctly is vital to avoid delayed operations.
- Upgrading the Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP): The power plant’s flue gas contains fly ash. The presence of these particles puts the system at risk of equipment failures and plugging, requiring upgrades to the ESP at the facility; a device used to remove particulate matter.
- Replacement of the Amine Tank: The original concrete amine tank experienced leakage early in operations due to design deficiencies. This needed to be replaced to ensure the long-term durability of the tank.
- Addition of Redundant Heat Exchangers: To ensure continuous operation during maintenance or failures, BD3 required additional redundancy of various process heat exchangers to increase heat exchanger performance and process stability.
- Improved Monitoring System: To allow for early detection of any possible CO₂ leakage, an improved monitoring system was necessary to measure the pH of the cooling water.
The Solution
After addressing initial operational challenges, several key solutions were implemented to ensure the facility’s long-term success.
Operational Adjustments
- Integrated Operations: Managing BD3’s online status ensures continuous operation of the facility. This option optimizes energy consumption, allows for effective maintenance scheduling, maintains process stability, and provides operational flexibility.
- Installation of Isolation Systems: Isolation systems were installed to enable online maintenance of faulty equipment. This minimizes process disruptions and outages, ensuring continuous operation and enhancing overall operational efficiency and reliability.
Engineering Enhancements
- Upgrading the ESP: By upgrading the power plant’s ESP to remove more fly ash from the flue gas, BD3 minimized challenges with plugging and equipment failures caused by the presence of these particles. This improvement led to smoother operations, reduced maintenance needs, and overall effectiveness of the carbon capture system.
- Replacement of the Amine Tank: The original concrete amine tank at BD3 was replaced with a double walled stainless-steel tank. The double-walled design significantly reduced the risk of leaks, which enhances the overall safety and reliability of the BD3 storage system.
- Addition of Redundant Heat Exchangers: Redundant heat exchangers were added to key process areas, including SO₂ lean/rich amine heat exchangers, SO₂ reboiler, and CO₂ absorber wash water coolers. This upgrade enhances heat exchanger performance and stability, and allows for maintenance without system shutdown, ensuring continuous operation and reliability.
- Monitoring System for Cooling Water pH: A monitoring system was added to measure the pH of the cooling water. This system helps mitigate the risk of high-pressure CO₂ leaking into the cooling water, which could cause corrosion and fouling of process coolers. By measuring the pH, the system can identify potential CO₂ leaks early, preventing significant issues. This proactive approach enhances the overall safety and reliability of the CO₂ capture process.
By overcoming hurdles, SaskPower gained invaluable insights into what’s effective and what is not and shared this information globally through the International CCS Knowledge Centre. This experience allows the Centre to assist other organizations in avoiding similar pitfalls during the pre-FEED (Front-End Engineering Design) phases of planning CCS projects, ensuring smoother project development and more efficient CCS implementation for future projects.
A Look Inside the Facility
Outcomes
Over the course of a year (August 2023-2024), the facility captured more than 900,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
The BD3 CCS Facility has achieved significant milestones in emissions reduction, economic benefits, and global leadership, marking it as a pioneering project in the CCS space. Through these outcomes, the BD3 facility not only highlights the potential for CCS to reduce emissions from industrial processes but also presents a compelling case for how carbon capture can be integrated into a sustainable energy future.
- SO₂ and NOx Reduction: In addition to CO₂, the facility has the ability to capture sulfur dioxide and 50% nitrogen oxides, improving air quality and reducing pollutants that contribute to acid rain.
- Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR): The majority of the captured CO₂ is used in Enhanced Oil Recovery[ZH1] , which both sequesters CO₂ underground and increases oil production, adding economic value and incentivizing CO₂ capture.
- Permanent Storage in Aquistore: Any CO₂ not used for EOR is injected into deep saline formations through the Aquistore project, ensuring long-term, secure storage more than 3.4 km underground.
- Emission Reductions: Since starting operations in 2014, BD3 has captured more than 6 million tonnes of CO₂, contributing to global climate goals by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Using advanced amine-based scrubbing technology, CO₂ is captured from the flue gas produced during coal combustion. This significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, positioning BD3 as one of the most effective CCS projects on a coal-fired power plant in the world.
- Revenue Generation: By utilizing captured CO₂ for EOR, BD3 has developed a business model that transforms emissions into a valuable commodity. This model offsets some of the costs associated with capture technologies and promotes broader industrial adoption of CCS.
- Global Leadership: As the world’s first large-scale CCS facility integrated into a coal-fired power plant, BD3 serves as a model for future projects and helps shape global CCS policies and best practices.
- Technological Advancements: Lessons from BD3 have directly influenced the design of second-generation CCS facilities across Canada.
Virtual Tour
Testing & Continuous Improvement
While the Carbon Capture Test Facility (CCTF) hasn’t been operational for some time, it was developed in collaboration with SaskPower to facilitate the real-world testing of next-generation CCS technologies. With the capability to process up to 120 tonnes of CO2 per day, the facility has played a critical role in optimizing energy recovery and emission control processes. The insights gained from BD3’s experience continue to inform and refine future CCS technologies, highlighting the potential for ongoing innovation in this field.
Global Relevance
BD3’s success has far-reaching implications for industries seeking to reduce emissions, particularly in sectors like steel and cement manufacturing, which have limited low-carbon alternatives. The BD3 CCS Facility has demonstrated that with the right technologies, fossil fuel-based energy production can be made more sustainable, offering hope for large-scale emission reductions across sectors.
The BD3 CCS facility has safely captured and stored more than 6 million tonnes of CO2 since 2014. As the world’s first fully integrated post-combustion CCS facility on a commercial power plant, BD3 represents a milestone in sustainable energy.
The CCUS Insight Accelerator (CCUSIA) is a partnership between the Government of Alberta and the International CCS Knowledge Centre to accelerate and de-risk CCUS by sharing knowledge and developing insights from projects.
