Toshiba today announced the successful testing of a first-of-its-kind combustor to be used in a breakthrough thermal power generation system that produces low-cost electricity and little-to-no air emissions. The new thermal power plant uses a supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) working fluid to produce very low-cost electricity while cutting emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), CO2, and other pollutants. CO2 is separated and collected at high-pressure without requiring additional carbon capture equipment or processes, enabling full carbon capture without increasing the cost of electricity. The captured CO2 can be subsequently sequestered or used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), a well-proven process for dramatically increasing the production of mature oil fields.
Step-by-step testing of the new combustor was initiated at a facility in California in January 2013.In July, the test program broke new scientific ground by confirming stable operation at the system’s target pressure of 300 atmospheres, fully confirming Toshiba’s design. Toshiba is developing the system with three leading U.S. companies: NET Power LLC, Chicago Bridge & Iron Company and Exelon Corporation. The four companies intend to demonstrate this emission-free system with a 25MW natural gas pilot plant in 2015 and a 250MW full-scale natural gas commercial plant by 2017.

