The Petra Nova project is a coal-energy-sector/clean-energy project designed to reduce carbon emissions from one of the boilers of a coal burning power plant in

Thompsons, Texas Thompsons is a town in Fort Bend County, Texas, Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, within the Greater Houston, Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The population was 246 at the 2010 census. Geography Thompsons is located ...

. It is a multi-million dollar project taken up by

NRG Energy NRG Energy, Inc. is an American energy company, headquartered in Houston, Texas. It was formerly the wholesale arm of Northern States Power Company (NSP), which became Xcel Energy, but became independent in 2000. NRG Energy is involved in ener ...

and JX Nippon Oil to retrofit one of the boilers at their

WA Parish Generating Station The W.A. Parish Generating Station is a 3.65-gigawatt (3,653 MW), dual-fired power plant located near Thompsons, Texas. The station occupies a 4,664-acre site near Smithers Lake southwest of Houston in Fort Bend County and consists of two four- ...

with a post-combustion

carbon capture Carbon capture may refer to: * Carbon capture and utilization, where the captured carbon dioxide is used * Carbon sequestration, where the captured carbon dioxide is stored ** Carbon capture and storage, referring to carbon sequestration from point ...

treatment system to treat a portion of the atmospheric exhaust emissions from the retrofitted boiler. The plant entered commercial service in 1977, and the new carbon emissions reduction system was first put into operation on January 10, 2017. The project is designed to annually capture approximately 33% of the

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

() (or 1.6 million tonnes) emissions from the plant's boiler #8. The carbon dioxide gas is captured at 99% purity, and is then compressed and piped about 82 miles to the West Ranch Oil Field, where it is used for

enhanced oil recovery Enhanced oil recovery (abbreviated EOR), also called tertiary recovery, is the extraction of crude oil from an oil field that cannot be extracted otherwise. EOR can extract 30% to 60% or more of a reservoir's oil, compared to 20% to 40% using ...

. The oil field had previously been producing 300 barrels of oil per day. With the new injection of high pressure carbon dioxide into the field, the oil production of the field was increased by a factor of 50 to 15,000 barrels per day. This project is expected to run for at least another 20 years. To satisfy the Clean Coal Power Initiative requirements, the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology has put a monitoring plan in place to keep track of the injection and movement of the beneath the surface and in the rock structures at West Ranch. On May 1, 2020, NRG shut down Petra Nova, citing low oil prices during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Due primarily to outages of the host natural gas cogeneration unit, the project missed its

carbon sequestration Carbon sequestration is the process of storing carbon in a carbon pool. Carbon dioxide () is naturally captured from the atmosphere through biological, chemical, and physical processes. These changes can be accelerated through changes in land ...

goal by 17% over its first three years of operation.

Technology

The Petra Nova carbon emissions reduction system uses an amine-based

absorption Absorption may refer to: Chemistry and biology * Absorption (biology), digestion **Absorption (small intestine) *Absorption (chemistry), diffusion of particles of gas or liquid into liquid or solid materials *Absorption (skin), a route by which ...

system, or the KM CDR Process (Kansai Mitsubishi Carbon Dioxide Recovery). This process was developed by

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

and Kansai Electric Power and utilizes a high performing proprietary solvent called KS-1. The is removed from the exhaust gas through a basic absorber-stripper system. The gaseous is then compressed to a supercritical liquid. The leaving the carbon capture plant is over 99% pure and is sent 82 miles through 12-inch diameter pipes to their end location of the West Ranch oil field, where it is used for

. The carbon dioxide from the Petra Nova Initiative will eventually end up in sandstone in the Frio Formation of the West Ranch oil field. It will remain about 5,000 feet underground and cover more than 4,000 acres of ground area.

Economics

The Petra Nova carbon emissions reduction system cost approximately $1 billion to install, and received a nearly $190 million grant from the U.S. Government under the Clean Coal Initiative, as well as a $250 million loan from the

Japanese government The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, c ...

. The increased oil recovery in the adjacent oil field was expected to result in a net savings. However, when the project was first proposed oil prices were very high (at $100 per barrel) and it was assumed that they would not drop. As of 2017, the current oil price was about $50 per barrel and therefore a net loss has resulted regarding the oil production at the field. On May 1, 2020, NRG shut down Petra Nova, citing the low cost of oil as a result of the

References

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External links

Petra Nova , NRG Energy
Carbon capture and storage Buildings and structures in Fort Bend County, Texas NRG Energy