BD3 CCS Facility

Boundary Dam 3 Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Facility 

SaskPower’s Boundary Dam 3 CCS Facility (BD3), located near Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada is the world’s first fully-integrated and full-chain carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility on a coal-fired power plant.  The full chain cluster of facilities is within close proximity to the BD3 facility, providing for a full demonstration and operation of proven and safe CCS. This comprehensive commercial operating experience provides insight into technology and other requirements which are not available anywhere else.

The full-chain of integrated operation includes: 

• Carbon Capture Facility

• Transportation to Enhanced Oil Recovery

• CO₂ Storage at Aquistore

• Carbon Capture Test Facility

• Emissions Control Research Facility

Capturing and Storing CO₂

Carbon Capture Facility

The Carbon Capture Facility is attached to the retrofitted 150 MW Power Unit #3 at Boundary Dam. It captures the carbon dioxide (CO₂) instead of it being released into the atmosphere. This reduces carbon emissions from the coal-fired power unit, while producing a reliable, clean source of energy. With the decision to add CCS to the aging Unit #3, SaskPower transformed it into a reliable, clean, long-term producer of up to 115 megawatts (MW) of base-load electricity. See virtual tour of the capture facility. 

In addition, the project allowed for the manufacturing other products from the byproducts captured. With the capture of sulphur dioxide, it is then converted to sulphuric acid and sold for industrial use. Fly ash, a byproduct of coal combustion, is sold for use in ready-mix concrete, pre-cast structures and concrete products.

Enhanced Oil Recovery

Once captured, CO₂ from BD3 becomes a commodity and is sold to an oil company for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) purposes.  This process of EOR utilizes CO₂ to maximize the removal of oil from reservoirs. The captured CO₂ is transported by pipeline 50 kilometres to nearby oilfields. In the case of BD3, the commercial sale of CO₂ becomes a source of revenue and helps to offset the cost of the capture process. The CO₂ that is injected into oil reservoirs is recycled in the process without being released into the atmosphere, and eventually, it is permanently and safely stored underground. 

Aquistore Project

The Aquistore Storage Project is an option for captured CO₂ that is not intended for EOR purposes. Located 2 kilometres from BD3, CO₂ is delivered to the Aquistore site via pipeline where it is injected 3.4 kilometres deep in a naturally occurring layer of brine-filled sandstone for permanent storage. Using advanced, measurement and monitoring procedures, the project is demonstrating that storing CO₂ deep underground is safe and permanent. See aerial footage of Aquistore.

For more information on EOR & storage, see this factsheet.
 

Testing Facilities

The International CCS Knowledge Centre (Knowledge Centre) offers a unique, ‘real-world,’ opportunity to test existing and new technology innovations; including associated knowledge and understanding to improve operational efficiency of capture systems. At the Knowledge Centre, we provide the ability to test technology advancements, so that challenges can be overcome — leading to the development and rapid commercialization of next generation post-combustion capture technologies. 

The Carbon Capture Test Facility (CCTF) 

CCTF is a demonstration-scale test facility that enables long-term technology evaluation utilizing up to 120t/day of CO₂ captured directly from the SaskPower’s Shand Power Station, a coal-fired power generating facility near Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada. Technologies at Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) four to seven may be tested at the facility. 

The CCTF is fully instrumented and enables testing and sampling to serve as a foundation for effective process control tool development and process simulation model development to ensure effective performance predictions. 

The following capabilities are available: 

• In-line laser interference monitoring of scrubbed flue gas constituents prior to capture solvent system 

• Manual gas sampling ports on each major component (downstream) — scrubber, desorber, reflux drum — for probe analysis with portable equipment or sample collection for lab analysis 

• 18 sample ports for solvent collection and analysis

• In-line monitoring of temperature, pressure, mass flow rate

• Manual stack monitoring and sampling 

See virtual tour of the CCTF or the CCTF Fact Sheet to learn more.

Emissions Control Research Facility (ECRF)

Situated at the Poplar River Coal-Fired Power Station in southern Saskatchewan, the ECRF enables the testing at TRL three through six of various technologies and processes for controlling emissions. This helps to determine how the technology will perform when fully installed at a power station saving time and money.

The testing outcomes at the ECRF help determine flue gas conditioning efficiencies, energy requirements, and lifecycle costs.

The ECRF can also be used to evaluate other test variations such as:

• Combustion flue gas conditioning to remove nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur oxides (SOx)

• Filter materials

• Monitoring and sampling technologies

• Heat recovery

• Coal drying prior to combustion and energy generation

• Removal of other trace constituents

This facility is one of its kind in Canada that provides a viable, accurate, “real world” testing option rather than conducting tests in a pilot plant facility with a burner that could simulate a coal-fired boiler.
 

Integrated Learning for The World

The Knowledge Centre is actively building on the lessons from BD3 through the development of the Shand CCS  Feasibility Study for second generation CCS.

We are mandated to share our expertise to support the development of full-scale CCS on power and other industrial applications. Reach out to us.