OXY-COMBUSTION: WHEN BURNING WITH OXYGEN OPENS THE WAY TO RECOVERABLE CO2

A new way to burn 
In power plants or cement factories, fuels are usually burned with air. But air is mostly nitrogen (nearly 80 %!). Result: the fumes contain little CO₂ (only 10 to 15 %).

Combustion in the presence of N2 produces nitrogen oxides, which are the source of acid pollution. 

Oxy-combustion changes this pattern: instead of air, quasi-pure oxygen (95-99 %), produced in an air separation unit, is used. To prevent the flame from becoming too hot, part of the fumes already rich in CO₂ and water vapor is recycled.

As summarized by Lockwood and his colleagues in ACS Omega (2023)this principle "generates a much simpler gas stream to process, dominated by CO₂ and water vapor", notably without NOx.

The benefits of oxy-fuel combustion 

1. An almost nitrogen-free flue gas stream 
   Removing nitrogen from the equation yields gases where CO₂ accounts for 70 to 90 % of the volume (after water condensation). 
2. Simplified capture 
   In conventional combustion, heavy processes are needed to separate the diluted CO₂. Here, as Toftegaard et al. in Fuel (2010)purification is much easier, which reduces the energy costs of capture". 
3. Multi-fuel compatibility 
   Oxy-combustion has been tested with coal, natural gas, biomass and even cement. According to aIEA Bioenergy (2022)It is particularly promising in sectors that are difficult to decarbonize, such as cement and steel. 

Opening the way to CO2 recovery   

If oxy-combustion is attracting so much interest, it's not just for capturing CO₂, but also for the reuse. 

A concentrated and relatively pure CO₂ stream opens the door to numerous pathways for valuation These include methanol production, the manufacture of synthetic fuels, mineral carbonation and even the feeding of microalgae cultures. As underlined by Artz et al. in Chemical Reviews (2018)CO₂ is not just a gas to be eliminated, it's a chemical resource that we need to learn how to exploit". 

In other words, oxy-combustion doesn't just make capture simpler: it could become a springboard to a circular carbon economywhere yesterday's CO₂ becomes tomorrow's raw material. 

With this in mind, W Platform has contributed to the development of oxy-combustion by proposing an innovative solution that accelerates its industrial integration.