POWERGRAMS

6 The landmark 25-megawatt carbon capture demonstration project at Plant Barry has won the Southeastern Electric Exchange's (SEE) top annual honor, the 2014 Industry Excellence Chairman's Award. "We're honored for the carbon capture and sequestration project to be recognized with the Southeastern Electric Exchange's top award," said Jim Heilbron, senior vice president and senior production officer. "We've become a worldwide leader in this crucial technology through innovative teamwork and dedication that spans our system." The groundbreaking system is the world's largest demonstration of capture and sequestration on a pulverized-coal power plant. "The carbon capture demonstration at Plant Barry represents an investment in our energy future by developing technologies that will provide clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy to customers, while helping make the most of America's energy resources," said Steve Wilson, research and development general manager. Wilson said Barry employees have had a critical role in the project that partners U.S. government and worldwide industrial leaders. "Without a willing, engaged and enthusiastic plant site and staff, innovation like this simply isn't possible. This could not have been accomplished without the great people at Plant Barry. They've been amazing," he said. About 150,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) – the equivalent of emissions from producing 25 megawatts – are being captured annually for permanent underground storage in a deep saline geologic formation. By some estimates, 25 megawatts can power 20,000 homes per year. The project's overall capture rate is 90 percent of CO 2 from flue gas, with a maximum capture rate of 95 percent and lower steam consumption than the conventional process. "This project has done what other demonstrations of carbon capture have not, which is to integrate the technology," said Nick Irvin, environmental control research and development manager and developer of the project. "And it is that integration that makes this project unique. While none of the technologies are new individually, they have never been previously demonstrated together. "By putting all of these technologies together," Irvin said, "we have been able to identify improvements that we would not have been able to identify by looking at the parts independently. We can see how they work together." A start-to-finish demonstration of carbon capture technology on the scale of the Plant Barry project is an important step toward establishing the technology's viability and economic feasibility for commercial use. "At this scale, with any R&D effort, we can do things we could not do on a larger scale," Wilson said. "We can harden the technology for our future use by breaking and improving the process." Wilson congratulated Irvin and his team for the worldwide partnership they assembled to pull the demonstration project together: the U.S. Department of Energy, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the Electric Power Research Institute, Denbury Resources, Southern States Energy Board, rail companies and a host of international utilities. "As a team, they did a great job challenging design and operational elements, finding ways to improve both," Wilson said. By Jo Alice Driggers Barry Best of Best ENViRONmENT Plant Barry Operations Team Leader David Dreaden works at 25-megawatt carbon capture facility. CARbON CApTuRE pROjECT GETs sEE's TOp ANNuAL AWARD Photos by dan Anderson

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